Stomach cancer statistics

Cases

New cases of stomach cancer, 2017-2019 average, UK

Deaths

Deaths from stomach cancer, 2017-2019, UK.

Survival

Survive stomach cancer for 10 or more years, 2013-2017, England

Prevention

Stomach cancer cases are preventable, UK, 2015

  • There are around 6,600 new stomach cancer cases in the UK every year, that's 18 every day (2017-2019).
  • Stomach cancer is the 18th most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 2% of all new cancer cases (2017-2019).
  • In females in the UK, stomach cancer is the 19th most common cancer, with around 2,300 new cases every year (2017-2019).
  • In males in the UK, stomach cancer is the 14th most common cancer, with around 4,200 new cases every year (2017-2019).
  • Incidence rates for stomach cancer in the UK are highest in people aged 85 to 89 (2017-2019).
  • Each year around half (49%) of all new stomach cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in people aged 75 and over (2017-2019).
  • Since the early 1990s, stomach cancer incidence rates have decreased by almost three-fifths (55%) in the UK. Rates in females have decreased by more than half (54%), and rates in males have decreased by almost three-fifths (58%) (2017-2019).
  • Over the last decade, stomach cancer incidence rates have decreased by more than a quarter (29%) in the UK. Rates in females have decreased by around a quarter (26%), and rates in males have decreased by around a third (32%) (2017-2019).
  • See our new Early Diagnosis Data Hub for statistics on stage at diagnosis for stomach cancer.
  • The most common specific location for stomach cancers in the UK is the cardia (2016-2018).
  • Stomach cancer incidence rates are projected to fall by 12% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040.
  • There could be around 6,800 new cases of stomach cancer every year in the UK by 2038-2040, projections suggest.
  • Stomach cancer incidence rates in England in females are 99% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least, and in males are 84% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least (2013-2017).
  • Around 1,300 cases of stomach cancer each year in England are linked with deprivation (around 490 in females and around 830 in males).
  • Stomach cancer incidence rates for persons are lower in the Asian ethnic group, higher in the Black ethnic group, and similar in people of mixed or multiple ethnicity, compared with the White ethnic group, in England (2013-2017). See our publication Cancer Incidence by Broad Ethnic Group for more details, including breakdowns for sex.
  • An estimated 18,500 people who had previously been diagnosed with stomach cancer were alive in the UK at the end of 2010.

See more in-depth stomach cancer incidence statistics

  • There are around 4,200 stomach cancer deaths in the UK every year, that's 12 every day (2017-2019).
  • Stomach cancer is the 14th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 3% of all cancer deaths (2017-2019).
  • In females in the UK, stomach cancer is the 15th most common cause of cancer death, with around 1,500 deaths every year (2017-2019).
  • In males in the UK, stomach cancer is the 14th most common cause of cancer death, with around 2,700 deaths every year (2017-2019).
  • Mortality rates for stomach cancer in the UK are highest in people aged 85 to 89 (2017-2019).
  • Each year almost 6 in 10 of all stomach cancer deaths (57%) in the UK are in people aged 75 and over (2017-2019).
  • Since the early 1970s, stomach cancer mortality rates have decreased by around four-fifths (81%) in the UK. Rates in females have decreased by more than four-fifths (83%), and rates in males have decreased by around four-fifths (81%) (2017-2019).
  • Over the last decade, stomach cancer mortality rates have decreased by almost a third (31%) in the UK. Rates in females have decreased by almost a third (30%), and rates in males have decreased by around a third (34%) (2017-2019).
  • Mortality rates for stomach cancer are generally similar in people of non-White minority ethnicity, compared with the White ethnic group, in England and Wales (2017-2019). See the publication Mortality from leading causes of death by ethnic group, England and Wales.
  • Stomach cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by 13% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040.
  • There could be around around 4,400 deaths of stomach cancer every year in the UK by 2038-2040, projections suggest.
  • Stomach cancer deaths in England are more common in people living in the most deprived areas.

See more in-depth stomach cancer mortality statistics

  • More than 3 in 20 (16.7%) people diagnosed with stomach cancer in England survive their disease for ten years or more, it is predicted (2013-2017).
  • Stomach cancer ten-year survival in England is higher in females than males (2013-2017).
  • More than a quarter (27.6%) of people in England diagnosed with stomach cancer aged 15-44 survive their disease for ten years or more, compared with a tenth (9.6%) of people diagnosed aged 75-99 (2013-2017).
  • Stomach cancer survival has almost tripled in the last 50 years in the UK.
  • In the 1970s, around 5 in 100 (4.1%) people diagnosed with stomach cancer survived their disease beyond ten years, by the 2010s it was 3 in 20 (15.0%).
  • Around a quarter (26.4%) of people in England diagnosed with stomach cancer in the least deprived group survive their disease for five years or more, compared with almost a quarter (22.8%) of people in the most deprived group (2016-2020).
  • Five-year relative survival for stomach cancer is below the European average in the UK. Further details on cancer survival in Europe can be found on the EUROCARE website.
  • For stomach cancer, like other cancer sites, survival trends reflect a combination of changes in treatment and stage distribution. These factors themselves can vary by age, sex and deprivation.
  • Further survival statistics by stage can be found on the Early Diagnosis Data Hub and information on treatments for cancer can be found here.
  • Further one-, five- and ten-year survival statistics can be found on the Cancer Statistics Dashboard.
Find further information on our stomach cancer survival trends page

  • A person’s risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including age, genetics, and exposure to risk factors (including some potentially avoidable lifestyle factors).
  • 1 in 170 UK females and 1 in 92 UK males will be diagnosed with stomach cancer in their lifetime (born in 1961).
  • 54% of stomach cancer cases in the UK are preventable.

See more in-depth stomach cancer risk statistics

See the interactive cancer treatment online tool produced by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) in partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK). This presents, for the first time, population-based statistics on chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical tumour resections in England, by demographic factors and geography.

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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.