49% of cancer cases in the UK are in females, and 51% are in males. [1-4]
All cancers combined incidence rates (European age-standardised ) for persons are significantly higher than the UK average in Scotland, significantly lower than the UK average in England, and similar to the UK average in all other UK constituent countries.
All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C97 Excl. C44), Number of New Cases Per Year, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK, 2016-2018
England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | UK | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Female | Cases | 151,396 | 16,842 | 9,276 | 4,925 | 182,438 |
Crude Rate | 538.0 | 605.0 | 585.2 | 517.8 | 545.3 | |
AS Rate | 545.8 | 586.6 | 545.5 | 558.3 | 549.7 | |
AS Rate - 95% LCL | 544.2 | 581.5 | 539.1 | 549.3 | 548.2 | |
AS Rate - 95% UCL | 547.4 | 591.7 | 551.9 | 567.3 | 551.1 | |
Male | Cases | 161,431 | 16,338 | 10,310 | 4,882 | 192,961 |
Crude Rate | 587.4 | 619.1 | 669.3 | 530.3 | 592.2 | |
AS Rate | 677.0 | 688.2 | 691.4 | 665.6 | 678.4 | |
AS Rate - 95% LCL | 675.1 | 682.1 | 683.6 | 654.8 | 676.7 | |
AS Rate - 95% UCL | 678.9 | 694.3 | 699.1 | 676.3 | 680.2 | |
Persons | Cases | 312,827 | 33,180 | 19,586 | 9,807 | 375,400 |
Crude Rate | 562.4 | 611.9 | 626.6 | 524.0 | 568.4 | |
AS Rate | 602.4 | 627.9 | 609.7 | 602.0 | 605.0 | |
AS Rate - 95% LCL | 601.2 | 624.0 | 604.8 | 595.1 | 603.9 | |
AS Rate - 95% UCL | 603.7 | 631.8 | 614.7 | 608.9 | 606.1 |

References
-
Data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (part of Public Health England), on request through the Office for Data Release, July 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/cancerregistrationstatisticsengland/previousReleases
-
Data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, April 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications.
-
Data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-incidence-in-wales-2002-2018/, March 2021.
-
Data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, May 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
About this data
Data is for UK, 2016-2018, ICD-10 C00-C97 Excl. C44.
The ICD codes for all cancers combined are ICD-10 C00-C97 excluding C44 which includes all malignant neoplasms excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). NMSC is often excluded from cancer incidence statistics because it is extremely common and registration is known to be incomplete.