Breast cancer mortality statistics

Breast cancer is the 4th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 7% of all cancer deaths (2017-2019).[1-4]

In females in the UK, breast cancer is the 2nd most common cause of cancer death (15% of all female cancer deaths). In males in the UK, it is not among the 20 most common causes of cancer death (less than 1% of all male cancer deaths).

99% of breast cancer deaths in the UK are in females, and 1% are in males (2017-2019).

Breast cancer mortality rates (European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) rates) in the UK are significantly higher in females than in males (2017-2019).

Breast cancer mortality rates (European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) rates) for persons are similar to the UK average in all the UK constituent countries.

For breast cancer, mortality and incidence rates do not vary between the UK constituent nations.

Breast Cancer (C50), Annual Average Number of Deaths, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, UK, 2017-2019

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Female Deaths 9,509 975 617 315 11,415
Crude Rate 33.6 34.9 38.7 32.9 33.9
AS Rate 32.8 33.1 34.8 34.8 33.0
AS Rate - 95% LCL 32.4 31.9 33.2 32.6 32.7
AS Rate - 95% UCL 33.2 34.4 36.4 37.0 33.4
Male Deaths 69 9 4 3 85
Crude Rate 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
AS Rate 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.3
AS Rate - 95% LCL 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3
AS Rate - 95% UCL 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.3
Persons Deaths 9,578 983 621 317 11,499
Crude Rate 17.1 18.1 19.8 16.9 17.3
AS Rate 18.1 18.7 19.2 19.5 18.2
AS Rate - 95% LCL 17.9 18.0 18.3 18.3 18.0
AS Rate - 95% UCL 18.3 19.3 20.1 20.8 18.4
95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

See also

Breast cancer (invasive) incidence statistics by sex and UK region

In situ breast cancer incidence statistics by sex and UK region

Breast cancer survival statistics

Cancer mortality statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. England and Wales data were accessed from Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age, November 2021: Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age.
  2. Scotland data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, November 2021. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp(link is external).
  3. Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, February 2022. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
  4. Population data were published by the Office for National statistics, accessed July 2020. The data can be found here: Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, provisional: mid-2019.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, C50.

Last reviewed:

Breast cancer mortality is strongly related to age, with the highest mortality rates being in older people. In the UK in 2017-2019, on average each year almost half of deaths (48%) were in people aged 75 and over.[1-4] This largely reflects higher incidence and lower survival for breast cancer in older people.

Age-specific mortality rates rise steadily from around age 30-34 and more steeply from around age 65-69. The highest rates are in the 90+ age group for both females and males. Mortality rates are significantly higher in females than males in a number of (mainly older) age groups. The gap is widest at age 35 to 39, when the age-specific mortality rate is 475 times higher in females than males.

Breast Cancer (C50), Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female Population, UK, 2017-2019

Breast Cancer (C50), Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Male Population, UK, 2017-2019

See also

Breast cancer (invasive) incidence statistics by age

In situ breast cancer incidence statistics by age

Breast cancer survival statistics by age

Cancer mortality statistics by age for all cancers

References

  1. England and Wales data were accessed from Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age, November 2021: Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age.
  2. Scotland data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, November 2021. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp(link is external).
  3. Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, February 2022. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
  4. Population data were published by the Office for National statistics, accessed July 2020. The data can be found here: Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, provisional: mid-2019.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C50.

Last reviewed:

Breast cancer European age-standardised age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary itemmortality rates for females and males combined decreased by 41% in the UK between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.[1-4] The decrease was larger in males than in females.

For females, breast cancer AS mortality rates in the UK decreased by 37% between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019. For males, breast cancer AS mortality rates in the UK decreased by 44% between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), breast cancer AS mortality rates for females and males combined decreased by 18%. In females AS mortality rates decreased by 16%, and in males rates remained stable.

Breast Cancer (C50), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female Population, UK, 1971-2019

Breast Cancer (C50), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Male Population, UK, 1971-2019

For most cancer types, mortality trends largely reflect incidence and survival trends. For example, rising mortality may reflect rising incidence and stable survival, while falling mortality may reflect rising incidence and rising survival.

Breast cancer mortality rates have decreased overall in some broad age groups in females in the UK since the early 1970s, but have increased or remained stable in others[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have remained stable, in 25-49s have decreased by 58%, in 50-64s have decreased by 53%, in 65-69s have decreased by 48%, in 70-79s have decreased by 29% and in 80+s have increased by 6%.

Breast Cancer (C50), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female Population, By Age, UK, 1971-2019

See also

Breast cancer (invasive) incidence trends over time

In situ breast cancer incidence trends over time

Breast cancer survival trends over time

Breast cancer risk factors

Breast cancer screening and coverage uptake trends over time

References

  1. England and Wales data were accessed from Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age, November 2021: Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age.
  2. Scotland data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, November 2021. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp(link is external).
  3. Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, February 2022. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
  4. Population data were published by the Office for National statistics, accessed July 2020. The data can be found here: Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, provisional: mid-2019.

About this data

Data is for UK, 1971-2019, C50.

Cancers in children and young people (aged 0-24) are best classified using a different system to cancers in adults, so the figures presented here may not correspond with those elsewhere.

Last reviewed:

It is projected that the average number of deaths from breast cancer in the UK every year will rise from around 10,800 deaths in 2023-2025 to around 11,400 deaths in 2038-2040.[1]

Breast cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by 13% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 25 deaths per 100,000 females on average each year by 2038-2040.[1]

Breast cancer (C50), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, UK, 1975-2040

Download the data (xlsx)

See also

Find out how these projections were calculated

Mortality trends over time for breast cancer

Projections of mortality for all cancers combined

Download the projections data table

References

Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, February 2023. Age-period-cohort modelling approach described here, using 2020-based population projections (Office for National Statistics) and observed cancer mortality data (1975-2018).

About this data

Projections are based on mortality data from 1975-2018 (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland); the above figure presents all UK data from 1975-2018 (observed) and 2019-2040 (projected). Number of deaths and age-standardised rates are presented as annual averages for each 3-year rolling period. ICD-10 codes C50.

Projections are based on observed mortality rates and therefore implicitly include changes in cancer risk factors, diagnosis and treatment. Confidence intervals are not calculated for the projected figures. Projections are by their nature uncertain because unexpected events in future could change the trend. It is not sensible to calculate a boundary of uncertainty around these already uncertain point estimates. Changes are described as 'increase' or 'decrease' if there is any difference between the point estimates.

More on projections methodology

Last reviewed:

  • Mortality rates for breast cancer in the UK in females are 12% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least, and rates in males are 43% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least.
  • Around 650 deaths from breast cancer each year in the UK are linked with deprivation (around 630 in females, and around 20 in males).

Further mortality by deprivation statistics and charts can be found on the Cancer Research UK's Cancer Statistics Data Hub.

 

Last reviewed:

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

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