Tanzania Formal Sector Employment and Earnings Survey 2024 - 2025
Tanzania, 2025 - 2026
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TZA-NBS-EES-2024-25-v01
Tanzania Formal Sector Employment and Earnings Survey 2024 - 2025
EES 2024 - 2025
Utafiti wa Ajira na Mapato katika Sekta Rasmi 2024-2025
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| United Republic of Tanzania | TZA |
Enterprise Survey [en/oth]
The Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) is an annual establishment-based survey that collects data on formal sector employment and earnings. Employment and earnings data refer to the status as of 30 June 2025, while all other information covers the 2024/25 financial year (July 2024–June 2025).
The 2024/25 Tanzania Formal Sector Employment and Earnings Report provides national statistics on formal sector employment and earnings for the United Republic of Tanzania. The report is based on the Employment and Earnings Survey (EES), which was successfully conducted in both Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. It is the third joint report prepared by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS), bringing together data from both parts of the country into one national report.
The EES has been conducted in Mainland Tanzania since 1963 and in Tanzania Zanzibar since 1978, with only a few interruptions over the years.
The 2024/25 Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) was conducted to produce reliable and nationally comparable statistics on employment and earnings in the formal sector of the United Republic of Tanzania. Its primary objective was to provide estimates on key labour market indicators, including the number of persons employed, earnings, wage bill, newly recruited workers and job vacancies in the formal sector. The survey also collected information on the socio-economic characteristics of formal sector employees to support labour market analysis, policy formulation, planning and decision-making.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Establishments are both the sampling unit and the unit of analysis for the Employment and Earnings Survey (EES). Employment and earnings statistics are compiled from information reported by formal sector establishments.
Version
v1.0: Edited final data for public use
2026-06-30
Notes on the 2024-2025 EES
-
Purpose:
To produce national statistics on formal sector employment, earnings, wage bill, recruitment and job vacancies for labour market planning and policy. -
Coverage:
The survey covers formal sector establishments across all 31 regions of Tanzania, including all public sector establishments, all private establishments with 50 or more employees and a sample of private establishments with 5–49 employees. -
Methodology:
The 2024/25 EES is an annual establishment-based survey of the formal sector. In Mainland Tanzania, it covered all public establishments, all private establishments with 50 or more employees and a representative sample of private establishments with 5–49 employees selected from the Statistical Business Register (SBR). In Zanzibar, it covered all public establishments and formal private establishments from the Census for Registered Establishments (CRE). Employment and earnings data refer to 30 June 2025, while all other information covers the 2024/25 financial year. Survey weights were applied to produce representative national estimates. -
Integration:
The report is the third joint publication by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS), presenting harmonized statistics for Mainland Tanzania and Tanzania Zanzibar. -
Historical Context:
The EES has been conducted since 1963 in Mainland Tanzania and 1978 in Tanzania Zanzibar, making it one of the country's longest-running labour market surveys.
Scope
The survey covers formal sector establishments engaged in economic activities classified under the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) across all 31 regions of Tanzania.
It includes all public sector establishments, all private establishments with 50 or more employees and a representative sample of private establishments with 5–49 employees.
The survey collects information on establishment characteristics, employment, earnings, wage bill, newly recruited employees and job vacancies. It excludes household employment activities, extraterritorial organizations in ISIC categories, the armed forces, domestic workers in private households, non-salaried working proprietors and unpaid family workers.
| Topic | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Formal Sector Employment | Employment by sex, industry, occupation, sector, regions |
| Employee Earnings | Average, median, total monthly earnings by sex, industry, occupation, sector, regions |
| Wage Bill | Total wage bill by industry, sector, region and establishment size. |
| Wage Rates | Wage rates by occupation, industry, sex and sector. |
| Newly Recruited Employees | Number of newly recruited employees by sex, occupation, industry and sector. |
| Job Vacancies | Number of vacant posts by industry, occupation and sector. |
| Socio-economic Characteristics of Employees | Employee characteristics by sex, age, education level, occupation and industry. |
Coverage
The survey was designed to produce representative estimates of formal sector employment and earnings at the national level for the United Republic of Tanzania (URT), Mainland Tanzania (TZM) and Tanzania Zanzibar (ZNZ). It also provides regional estimates for all 31 regions of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The survey covered all formal sector establishments in the United Republic of Tanzania. In Mainland Tanzania, it included all public sector establishments, all private establishments with 50 or more employees and a representative sample of private establishments employing 5–49 employees. In Tanzania Zanzibar, the survey covered all formal sector establishments.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS | GOVERNMENT OF TANZANIA |
| OFFICE OF THE CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN | REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT OF ZANZIBAR |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister's Office Labour, Employment and Relations | Government of the United Republic of Tanzania | Data Validation and Dissemination |
| The President's Office, Labour, Economic Affairs and Investment | Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar | Data Validation and Dissemination |
| International Labour Organization | United Nations (UN) Specialized Agency | Technical support and guidance on application of international statistical standards |
| Name | Abbreviation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Government of the United Republic of Tanzania | URT | FUNDING |
| WORLD BANK | WB | FUNDING |
| INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION | ILO | TECHNICAL |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister's Office Labour, Employment and Relations | GOVERNMENT OF TANZANIA | Technical support |
| The President's Office, Labour, Economic Affairs and Investment | Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar | Technical support |
| World Bank | WB | Fund management |
| International Labour Organisation | ILO | Technical support |
Sampling
In Mainland Tanzania, the sample was selected from the Statistical Business Register (SBR) based on ISIC Rev.4. It included all public establishments, all private establishments with 50 or more employees and a stratified probability proportional to size (PPS) sample of private establishments employing 5–49 employees.
In Tanzania Zanzibar, the survey covered all public establishments and formal private establishments selected from the Census for Registered Establishments (CRE)
The Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) estimates are derived from a complex sample design and may differ from the true population values due to unavoidable survey errors. These errors arise from both sampling and non-sampling sources and together constitute the Total Survey Error (TSE).
Sampling errors result from selecting a sample rather than conducting a complete census. They are assessed using the Coefficient of Variation (CV), which measures the relative variability of survey estimates. A CV below 25 percent indicates relatively precise and reliable estimates, while a CV of 25 percent or above suggests higher variability and lower precision.
Non-sampling errors include errors that occur during data collection, processing, coding, data entry, non-response and respondent or interviewer mistakes. These errors are minimized through rigorous quality assurance measures, including questionnaire design, staff training, field supervision, data validation and processing checks.
Response rates for 2024/25 EES were developed based on the number of selected establishments and the number of establishments that actually interviewed during data collection. Out of 15,810 selected establishments in Mainland Tanzania, response rate was 94.0 percent (14,865 establishments). However, out of 1,772 available establishments in Zanzibar, response rate was 92.8 percent (1,647 establishments).
The weights for the strata were calculated by using the simple expression denoted as:
Weight = N/n
Where: N = Total number of establishments in the sampling frame
n = Number of establishments that responded
Survey instrument
The survey instruments for the 2024/25 Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) comprised questionnaires and enumerators' instruction manuals. These instruments were developed by the Survey Technical Committee in both English and Kiswahili, following extensive consultations with stakeholders and data users prior to the survey.
Data were collected electronically using the CAPI system with built-in validation and consistency checks. Completed interviews were transmitted to a central server, where further data validation, tabulation and analysis were carried out using SPSS and STATA.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2025-08-01 | 2026-03-31 |
| Start date | End date |
|---|---|
| 2024-07-01 | 2025-06-30 |
- Face-to-face [f2f]
| Name | Affiliation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS | MINISTRY OF FINANCE | NBS |
| OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN | PRESIDENT'S OFFICE - FINANCE AND PLANNING, ZANZIBAR (POFP) | OCGS |
Data collection for the 2024/25 Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) was conducted between August 2025 and March 2026.
To ensure data quality and compliance with survey protocols, regular field supervision was conducted throughout the data collection period.
National and regional supervisors monitored field activities, reviewed data quality and addressed operational challenges.
These quality assurance measures helped minimize non-sampling errors, including incomplete or inaccurate responses, inconsistencies in questionnaire administration and data collection errors.
Survey data were collected using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). The survey gathered information on establishment characteristics, regular and casual employees, newly recruited workers and job vacancies. Data collection was conducted between August 2025 and March 2026 in both Mainland Tanzania and Tanzania Zanzibar, following comprehensive training of the enumerators responsible for the data collection exercise.
Data processing
Data were transmitted electronically through the CAPI system after review by field supervisors.
Automated and manual validation checks were performed to ensure data quality, while data analysis and tabulation were conducted using SPSS and STATA.
Data appraisal
The 2024/25 Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) estimates are derived from a complex sample design and are therefore subject to both sampling and non-sampling errors, collectively referred to as Total Survey Error (TSE).
Sampling errors arise because the survey is based on a sample rather than a complete census. The precision of the estimates was assessed using the Coefficient of Variation (CV), where a CV below 25 percent indicates reliable estimates, while a CV of 25 percent or above suggests lower precision and should be interpreted with caution.
Non-sampling errors, such as data collection, processing, coding, non-response, and respondent or interviewer errors, were minimized through quality assurance measures, including questionnaire design, enumerator training, field supervision, data validation and processing checks.
In addition to assessing sampling and non-sampling errors, the Total Survey Error (TSE) was considered to evaluate the overall difference between the true population values and the survey estimates. Monitoring and minimizing TSE is essential for ensuring the quality, accuracy and reliability of Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) statistics.
Furthermore, enumerators and field supervisors played a critical role in ensuring the quality of data collected from formal sector establishments. Their work, supported by comprehensive training, field supervision and data validation procedures, contributed to the production of reliable statistics on formal sector employment, earnings, wage bill, newly recruited employees and job vacancies for evidence-based policy formulation, planning and decision-making.
Data Access
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| STATISTICIAN GENERAL | NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS | https://www.nbs.go.tz/ | sg@nbs.go.tz |
| CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN | OFFICE OF CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN ZANZIBAR | http://www.ocgs.go.tz/publication/sub-category/labour-statistics | info@ocgs.go.tz |
| LABOUR AND PRICE STATISTICS SECTION MANAGER | NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS | https://www.nbs.go.tz/statistics/topic/labour-and-employment-report | labour@nbs.go.tz |
| Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? | Confidentiality declaration text |
|---|---|
| yes | Confidentiality Statement: This information is collected under the Statistics Act, Cap. 351, Revised Edition 2019. All information provided will be treated with the strictest confidentiality and used solely for statistical purposes. |
Tanzania NBS considered three levels of accessibility:
Public use files, accessible by all
Licensed datasets, accessible under certain conditions
Datasets only accessible on location, for certain datasets
The dataset has been anonymized and available as a public use dataset. It accessible to all for statistical and research purposes only, under the following terms and conditions:
The data and other material will not be redistributed or sold to other individuals, institutions, or organization without the written agreement of the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics.
The data will be used for statistical and scientific research purposes only. They will be used solely for reporting of aggregated information, and not for investigation of specific individuals or organizations.
No attempt will be made to produce links among dataset provided by the National Bureau of Statistics, or among data from the (National Bureau of Statistics) and other datasets that could identify individuals or organizations.
No attempt will be made to re-identify respondents, and no use will be made of the identify of any person or establishment discovered inadvertently. Any such discovery would immediately be reported to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Any books, articles, conference papers, theses, dissertations, reports, or other publications that employ data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics will cite the source of data in accordance with the Citation Requirement provided with each dataset.
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS). 2026. Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) 2024/25: Formal Sector Employment and Earnings Report of the United Republic of Tanzania. Dodoma and Zanzibar: National Bureau of Statistics and Office of the Chief Government Statistician.
Disclaimer and copyrights
The data and information contained in the 2024/25 Employment and Earnings Survey (EES) have been produced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS) for statistical purposes. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data, NBS and OCGS do not accept responsibility for any interpretation, conclusions, or decisions made by users based on these data. Users are encouraged to cite the source appropriately in any publication or analysis derived from the survey.
© 2026, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS). All rights reserved.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statistician General | National Bureau of Statistics | sg@nbs.go.tz | https://www.nbs.go.tz/ |
| CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN | OFFICE OF CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN ZANZIBAR | info@ocgs.go.tz | http://www.ocgs.go.tz/publication/sub-category/labour-statistics |
| Labour and Price Statistics Manager | National Bureau of Statistics | labour@nbs.go.tz | https://www.nbs.go.tz/statistics/labour-statistics |
Metadata production
DDI-TZA-NBS-EES-2024-25-V1.0
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS | NBS | MINISTRY OF FINANCE | Metadata Producer |
| OFFICE OF THE CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN ZANZIBAR | OCGS | PRESIDENT OFFICE - FINANCE AND PLANNING | Metadata Producer |
2026-07-20
Metadata version
Version 0.1(June 2026)