Worldwide cancer incidence statistics

Cases

New cases of cancer worldwide, 2020

Common cancers

More than 4 in 10 of new cases of cancer are lung, female breast, bowel or prostate cancer, 2020, worldwide

Projection to 2040

Cancer incidence rates projected increase 2020-2040, worldwide

There were an estimated 18.1 million new cases of cancer (all cancers combined excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) worldwide in 2020: 8.8 million (48%) in females and 9.3 million (52%) in males, giving a male:female ratio of 10:9.5.[1] The world age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item incidence rate shows that there are 178.1 new cancer cases for every 100,000 females in the world and 206.9 new cancer cases for every 100,000 males.[1]

The four most common types of cancer worldwide are female breast, lung, bowel (including anus) and prostate cancers, and account for more than four in ten (43%) of all new cases.[1]

See also

Visit the Global Cancer Observatory for an interactive web-based platform to explore the global cancer statistics.

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2020 accessed via Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed February 2023.

About this data

Data is for: worldwide, 2020.

Some common cancers are defined using slightly different ICD codes in this section than used for UK data.

See the full details of data and methods.

Last reviewed:

It is predicted there will be 28 million new cancer cases worldwide each year by 2040, if incidence remains stable and population growth and ageing continues in line with recent trends.[1] This is an increase of 54.9% from 2020 and is expected to be higher in males (60.6% increase) than in females (48.8% increase).

See also

Visit the Global Cancer Observatory for an interactive web-based platform to explore the global cancer statistics.

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2020 accessed via Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed February 2023.

About this data

Data is for: worldwide, 2020.

Some common cancers are defined using slightly different ICD codes in this section than used for UK data.

Caution should be taken with this data as historic trends of particular cancers may not have been taken into account, the current ASR may have only have been mapped onto population growth projections.

See the full details of data and methods.

Last reviewed:

The UK incidence rate for all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) is higher than most of the countries in Europe (rank 10 of 40), it is estimated.[1]. The four most common types of cancer in the UK are the same as for Europe as a whole (female breast, bowel (including anus), prostate and lung).

All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C97 Excl. C44), New Cases, World Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK compared to Europe, 2020

See also

Visit the Global Cancer Observatory for an interactive web-based platform to explore the global cancer statistics.

International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP)

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2020 accessed via Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed February 2023.

About this data

Data is for: worldwide, 2020.

Some common cancers are defined using slightly different ICD codes in this section than used for UK data.

See the full details of data and methods.

Last reviewed:

The UK incidence rate for all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) is higher than most other countries in the world (rank 13 of 185), it is estimated[1] The four most common types of cancer in the UK are the same as those for the world as a whole.

All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C97 Excl. C44), New Cases, World Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK compared to Worldwide, 2020

See also

Visit the Global Cancer Observatory for an interactive web-based platform to explore the global cancer statistics.

International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP)

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2020 accessed via Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed February 2023.

About this data

Data is for: worldwide, 2020.

Some common cancers are defined using slightly different ICD codes in this section than used for UK data.

See the full details of data and methods.

Last reviewed:

Local Cancer Statistics

Local level cancer statistics; search profiles by area, constituency or health board in the UK.

Go to local cancer statistics

Interested in an overview for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?

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Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.