Stalling fertility transitions and implications for population and development policies and programmes in Tanzania

Collins Opiyo, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Samweli Msokwa, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Monika S. Sawhney, Marshall University

The past century has witnessed a rapid fertility decline in a majority of less developed countries. Overall, the total fertility rate (TFR) of the developing world dropped from 6.0 births per woman in the late 1960s to 2.6 in 2015. Declines have been most rapid in Latin America, Asian, and North Africa regions where social and economic development has also been relatively rapid. Sub-Saharan Africa also witnessed rapid fertility decline than anticipated earlier by the demographic community. However, the optimism of a continuing fertility revolution in the region was suddenly muted after the mid 1990s when the pace of fertility decline decelerated in many countries and stalled in others. The objective of the study is to examine the nature and pattern of recent fertility trends in Tanzania, a country experiencing a stalled fertility, and the implications of current trends for population and development policies and programs in the country.