The 2006 Integrated Labour Force Survey shows that 2,194,392 persons were unemployedwhich is equivalent to 11.7% of the total Labour Force population in the country.

During that period, the Labour Force population was 18,821,525 of whom, 16,627,133 persons were employed and among the employed, 1,682,383 persons were in the informal sector activities.

The estimates of currently unemployed persons for year 2011 are 2,368,672 persons which is equivalent to 10.7% of the labour force population.

Currently the total number of labour force population is estimated to be 22,152,320 persons, of whom19,783,648 are estimated to be employed, among the employed, 2,502,327 persons are estimated to be employed in the informal sector activities.

It is obvious that, most of Tanzanians engage in a range of activities to earn a living; as a result unemployment rate seem to be low as compared to most of the peoples’ understanding, which confuses between employment in the informal sector activities and employment in the formal sector economy.

Meanwhile, the Government is planning to conduct the Integrated Labour Force Survey in year 2013, results from the survey are expected to update the Labour market information.