There are around 1,900 new cancer cases in children every year in the UK, with around 850 new cases in girls and around 1,000 new cases in boys every year (2017-2019).
View more detailed gender stats on our dashboard for Children's cancer
Children's cancers incidence rates in the UK are highest in the under-fives age group, with almost 1 in 2 (45%) of all new cancer cases being diagnosed in this age group (2017-2019).
Childrens cancer usually have no known cause. For most cancer types incidence increases with age, which largely reflects cell DNA damage accumulating over time. Damage can result from biological processes or from exposure to risk factors.
Children's cancer incidence rates have increased by around a tenth (11%) in the UK since the early 2000s and rates have increased by around a tenth (9%) in the last decade (2017-2019).
View more detailed trends stats on our dashboard for Children's cancer
View our latest cancer statistics including key stats, in-depth explanations and raw data on cancer incidence, mortality, survival, risk, and diagnosis and treatment.
View full A-Z cancer statisticsSee information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.
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Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics
Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, et al. International Classification of Childhood Cancer, third edition. Cancer 2005;103:1457-67.
Public Health England. Children, teenagers and young adults UK cancer statistics report 2021. Accessed March 2021.
