Office of Chief Government Statistician - Zanzibar
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN ZANZIBAR
2026-09-30
Nesstar Publisher
Version 0.1(October 2026)
Informal Sector Survey 2025
2025 ISS
Utafiti wa Sekta Isiyo Rasmi wa Mwaka 2025
TZA-NBS-ISS-2025-v01
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN
World Bank
International Labour Organisation
Prime Minister's Office Labour, Employment and Relations
The President's Office, Labour, Economic Affairs and Investment
International Labour Organization
(c) 2026, National Bureau of Statistics Tanzania
Nesstar Publisher
Government of the United Republic of Tanzania
WORLD BANK
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
Statistician General
Labour and Price Statistics Manager
Informal Sector Survey [hh/iss]
v1.0: Edited final data for public use .
Purpose: Generated reliable, nationally comparable labour statistics on size, structure and characteristics of the labour force.
Informal Sector Operators
Informal Sector Employment
Average Annual Value Added
Gross Output and Labour Productivity
Informal Sector Employment
Informal Sector Operators
Total Output
Operating Surplus
Capital investment
Turnover
Labour Productivity
The Informal Sector Survey 2025 (2025 ISS) was conducted to generate reliable and nationally representative data on the characteristics, structure and economic contribution of the informal sector in the United Republic of Tanzania. The survey aimed to provide comprehensive information on informal sector establishments, including their economic activities, employment characteristics, business operations, production, income and other key indicators. The findings provide an evidence base for assessing the role of the informal sector in the national economy, supporting evidence-based policymaking, development planning and the formulation of policies and programmes aimed at promoting decent work, improving productivity and supporting the sustainable development of informal sector enterprises in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
United Republic of Tanzania
The survey sample was designed to provide representative estimates on the Informal sector situtation at National level (Tanzania - URT, Mainland Tanzania - TZM & Zanzibar - ZNZ), Urban, Other urban, Rural areas and Dar es Salaam.
Households served as sampling units and informal sector operators as units of analysis
The survey covered all usual residents aged 15+ years resident in the households.
Sample survey data [ssd]
The 2025 Informal Sector Survey has been restricted to activities within the production boundary as defined in the 2008 SNA and covered both urban and rural areas to produce estimates at regional level. This restriction has been considered necessary to ensure that employment, production and income generation in the informal sector can be measured as a share of total employment, total sector product and Gross Domestic Product. The survey covered informal sector enterprises operating throughout the United Republic of Tanzania, including both Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. The survey focused on both agriculture and non-agricultural economic activities carried out by unincorporated enterprises that operate with a low level of organization, limited record-keeping practices, and are generally not registered under the formal regulatory framework. The survey scope excluded activities carried out solely for household consumption and formal sector enterprises. The findings are intended to support economic planning, policy formulation, as well as monitoring of the national, regional, and international development targets.
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS
OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN
The sampling frame for the 2025 ISS was derived from the inventory of Enumeration Areas (EAs) compiled during the 2022 Population and Housing Census (PHC). The sample was designed to provide representative estimates with a 95 percent confidence interval across three domains in Tanzania Mainland (TZM): rural areas, other urban areas and Dar es Salaam; and 7 domains for Zanzibar, namely: rural, urban, Kaskazini Pemba, Kaskazini Unguja, Kusini Pemba, Kusini Unguja and Mjini Magharibi. Prior to household selection, a fresh household listing operation was conducted in all selected EAs to establish an up-to-date sampling frame of residential households. In the second stage, a fixed number of eighteen (18) households were systematically selected from each listed EA. The household questionnaire was administered to collect demographic and socio-economic information on household members and to identify individuals engaged in informal sector activities who were interviewed using the individual questionnaire. The questionnaire collected information on the characteristics and operations of informal sector enterprises, including business activities, ownership, employment, earnings, and business premises.
Face-to-face [f2f]
Data collection for the 2025 Informal Sector Survey (ISS) was carried out for 45 days. To maintain data quality and ensure adherence to survey protocols, regular field supervision was conducted throughout the data collection period both national and regional supervisors made systematic visits to the field to oversee enumerator performance and address any challenges encountered during data collection. These quality assurance measures were instrumental in minimizing non-sampling errors, such as incorrect recording of responses, inconsistent questionnaire administration or procedural deviations by enumerators.
Data processing involved various activities which included: - receiving data electronically though severs immediately after being edited by the field supervisors; computer editing using logics built in the CAPI; and Data analysis and tabulation were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and STATA. After each quarter's dataset was processed and edited, detailed editing reports were generated and shared with regional supervisors. These reports served as important feedback tools, helping to improve the quality of supervision and data collection in subsequent rounds.
The overall response rate for URT is 92.85 percent; with response rate of Tanzania Mainland being 92.96 percent and 92.20 percent for Zanzibar.
STATISTICIAN GENERAL
LABOUR AND PRICE STATISTICS SECTION
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 2026. Integrated Labour Force National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 2026. Informal Sector Survey (ISS) 2025: Analytical Report. Dodoma, Tanzania: National Bureau of Statistics.
Public use files, accessible to all