Worldwide cancer statistics

Cases

New cases of worldwide cancer, 2012

Deaths

Deaths from worldwide cancer, 2012

Smoking

Cancer cases linked to exposure to tobacco smoke, worldwide

  • In 2012, an estimated 14.1 million new cases of cancer occurred worldwide.
  • More than 4 in ten cancers occurring worldwide are in countries at a low or medium level of Human Development Index (HDI).
  • The four most common cancers occurring worldwide are lung, female breast, bowel and prostate cancer. These four account for around 4 in 10 of all cancers diagnosed worldwide.
  • Lung cancer is the most common cancer in men worldwide. More than 1 in 10 of all cancers diagnosed in men are lung cancers.
  • Lung, breast and bowel (including anus), stomach and prostate cancers have been amongst the most commonly diagnosed worldwide since 1975.
  • Worldwide, almost 32.5 million people diagnosed with cancer within the five years previously were alive at the end of 2012 (estimated).
  • An estimated 169.3 million years of healthy life were lost globally because of cancer in 2008.
  • Worldwide there will be 23.6 million new cases of cancer each year by 2030 (estimated).
  • Incidence rates in the UK are lower than in the European Union in males, but higher in females.
  • Incidence rates in the UK are lower than in the More Developed Regions of the world in males, but higher in females. For both sexes, rates in the UK are higher than in the Less Developed Regions of the world.

Read more in-depth worldwide cancer incidence statistics

  • In 2012, an estimated 8.2 million people died from cancer worldwide.
  • More than half of cancer deaths worldwide occurred in countries at a low or medium level of the Human Development Index (HDI).
  • Lung, liver, stomach, and bowel are the most common causes of cancer death worldwide, accounting for nearly half of all cancer deaths.
  • Lung cancer causes the most cancer deaths worldwide. Almost a fifth of all cancer deaths worldwide are lung cancers.
  • Lung, liver, stomach and bowel cancers have been the four most common causes of cancer death since 1975.
  • Mortality rates in the UK are lower than in the European Union in males, but higher in females.
  • Mortality rates in the UK are lower than the More Developed Regions of the world in males, but higher in females. For both sexes, rates in the UK are higher than the Less Developed Regions of the world.

Read more in-depth worldwide cancer mortality statistics

  • 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). Cancer risk factors are overall similar worldwide. Smoking, insufficient physical activity, alcohol, diet, overweight and obesity, and infections account for a high proportion of cancers worldwide, as they do in the UK.
  • Prevalence of different risk factors varies by region and country, this is partly why overall cancer incidence rates, and the most common types of cancer, also vary by region and country.
  • Worldwide, 1 billion adults currently smoke cigarettes.
  • Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in the world, and around a third of tobacco-caused deaths are due to cancer (2015 projected).
  • Alcohol drinking causes an estimated 6% of deaths worldwide, around 1 in 8 of which are due to cancer (2012). Alcohol drinking prevalence is highest in Europe and America.
  • Overweight and obesity prevalence is increasing particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Overweight and obesity are leading causes of death worldwide.
  • Unhealthy diets, e.g. low in fruit and vegetables and high in salt, are becoming more common in lower-resource countries.
  • Infections cause 18% of the global cancer burden, with a much higher proportion in low-income countries.

Read more in-depth worldwide cancer risk factors

The latest incidence and mortality statistics available for cancer worldwide are 2012 (estimated).

The ICD codes Open a glossary item for all cancers combined are ICD-10 C00-C97 (excluding C44) (all cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC))

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

An understanding of worldwide data quality is relevant to interpreting these stats.

See also

Data sources and timings - why are these the latest statistics?

Information and explanations on terminology used for statistics

Data collection and quality implications

Local Cancer Statistics

Find and compare local statistics and information in the UK by healthboard, Local Authority or postcode.

Find and compare local cancer statistics

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

Citation

You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK content for your own work.
Credit us as authors by referencing Cancer Research UK as the primary source. Suggested styles are:

Web content: Cancer Research UK, full URL of the page, Accessed [month] [year].
Publications: Cancer Research UK ([year of publication]), Name of publication, Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when reused unaltered): Credit: Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when recreated with differences): Based on a graphic created by Cancer Research UK.

When Cancer Research UK material is used for commercial reasons, we encourage a donation to our life-saving research.
Send a cheque payable to Cancer Research UK to: Cancer Research UK, Angel Building, 407 St John Street, London, EC1V 4AD or

Donate online

Rate this page:

Currently rated: 3.9 out of 5 based on 79 votes
Thank you!
We've recently made some changes to the site, tell us what you think

Share this page