Ovarian cancer mortality statistics

Ovarian cancer is the 6th most common cause of cancer death in females in the UK, accounting for 5% of all cancer deaths in females (2017-2019). In females and males combined, ovarian cancer is the 16th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 2% of all cancer deaths (2017-2019).[1-4]

Ovarian cancer mortality rates (European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) rates) for females are significantly higher than the UK average in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and similar to the UK average in all other UK constituent countries.

For ovarian cancer there are mortality differences between countries despite there being no such differences in incidence.

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), Annual Average Number of Deaths, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female Population, UK, 2017-2019

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Female Deaths 3,388 394 227 132 4,142
Crude Rate 12.0 14.1 14.3 13.8 12.3
AS Rate 12.0 13.5 12.9 14.8 12.2
AS Rate - 95% LCL 11.7 12.7 11.9 13.3 12.0
AS Rate - 95% UCL 12.2 14.3 13.8 16.3 12.4
Persons Deaths 3,388 394 227 132 4,142
Crude Rate 6.1 7.2 7.2 7.0 6.2
AS Rate 6.4 7.4 6.9 8.1 6.6
AS Rate - 95% LCL 6.3 7.0 6.4 7.3 6.5
AS Rate - 95% UCL 6.6 7.9 7.4 8.9 6.7
95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

See also

Ovarian cancer incidence statistics by UK region

Ovarian 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, C56-C57.4.

Last reviewed:

Ovarian cancer mortality is strongly related to age, with the highest mortality rates being in older women. In the UK in 2017-2019, on average each year almost half of deaths (45%) were in females aged 75 and over.[1-4] This largely reflects higher incidence and lower survival for ovarian cancer in older people.

Age-specific mortality rates rise steadily from around age 30-34 and more steeply from around age 45-49, with a drop in the oldest age groups. The highest rates are in the 85 to 89 age group.

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female Population, UK, 2017-2019

See also

Ovarian cancer incidence statistics by age

Ovarian cancer survival statistics

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 C56-C57.4.

Last reviewed:

Ovarian cancer age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item rates for females decreased by 23% in the UK between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), ovarian cancer AS mortality rates for females decreased by 16%.

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female 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.

Ovarian cancer mortality rates have decreased overall in some broad age groups in females in the UK since the early 1970s, but have increased in others.[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have decreased by 79% (though the absolute change is very small as rates are overall low in this age group), in 25-49s have decreased by 72%, in 50-59s have decreased by 58%, in 60-69s have decreased by 35%, in 70-79s have increased by 10% and in 80+s have increased by 67%.

Ovarian Cancer (C56-C57.4), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Female Population, By Age, UK, 1971-2019

See also

Ovarian cancer incidence trends over time

Ovarian cancer survival trends over time

Ovarian cancer risk factors

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, C56-C57.4.

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 ovarian cancer in the UK every year will rise from around 4,000 deaths in 2023-2025 to around 4,100 deaths in 2038-2040.[1]

Ovarian cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by 15% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 9 deaths per 100,000 females on average each year by 2038-2040.[1]

Ovarian cancer (C56-C57.4), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, UK, 1975-2040

Download the data table (xlsx)

See also

Find out how these projections were calculated

Mortality trends over time for ovarian 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 C56-C57.4.

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 ovarian cancer in the UK are 12% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least.
  • Around 230 deaths from ovarian cancer each year in the UK are linked with deprivation.

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

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.