Prostate cancer mortality statistics

Prostate cancer is the 2nd most common cause of cancer death in males in the UK, accounting for 14% of all cancer deaths in males (2017-2019). In females and males combined, prostate cancer is the 3rd most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 7% of all cancer deaths (2017-2019).[1-4]

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

For prostate cancer, mortality rates do not vary between UK constituent nations however incidence rates do vary between the UK constituent nations.

Prostate Cancer (C61), Annual Average Number of Deaths, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Mortality Rates per 100,000 Male Population, UK, 2017-2019

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Male Deaths 10,159 981 611 289 12,039
Crude Rate 36.7 37.0 39.5 31.2 36.7
AS Rate 46.4 47.0 45.1 46.7 46.4
AS Rate - 95% LCL 45.9 45.3 43.0 43.6 45.9
AS Rate - 95% UCL 46.9 48.7 47.2 49.8 46.9
Persons Deaths 10,159 981 611 289 12,039
Crude Rate 18.2 18.0 19.5 15.3 18.1
AS Rate 19.2 18.9 18.5 18.5 19.1
AS Rate - 95% LCL 18.9 18.3 17.6 17.3 18.9
AS Rate - 95% UCL 19.4 19.6 19.3 19.7 19.3
95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

See also

Prostate cancer incidence statistics by UK region

Prostate 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, C61.

Last reviewed:

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

Age-specific mortality rates rise steadily from around age 55-59 and more steeply from around age 70-74. The highest rates are in the 90+ age group.

Prostate Cancer (C61), Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Male Population, UK, 2017-2019

See also

Prostate cancer incidence statistics by age

Prostate 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 C61.

Last reviewed:

Prostate cancer age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item rates for males increased by 16% in the UK between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), prostate cancer AS mortality rates for males decreased by 10%.

Prostate Cancer (C61), 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.

Prostate cancer mortality rates have varied between age groups in males in the UK since the early 1970s.[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have remained stable, in 25-49s have remained stable, in 50-59s have remained stable, in 60-69s have decreased by 7%, in 70-79s have decreased by 15% and in 80+s have increased by 44%.

Prostate Cancer (C61), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Male Population, By Age, UK, 1971-2019

See also

Prostate cancer incidence trends over time

Prostate cancer survival trends over time

Prostate 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, C61.

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 prostate cancer in the UK every year will rise from around 13,200 deaths in 2023-2025 to around 17,500 deaths in 2038-2040.[1]

Prostate cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by 5% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 42 deaths per 100,000 males on average each year by 2038-2040.[1]

Prostate cancer (C61), 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 prostate 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

Data is for: UK, 1979-2014 (observed), 2015-2035 (projected), ICD-10 C61

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 C61.

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 prostate cancer in the UK are 11% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least.
  • Around 740 deaths from prostate 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

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