Cancer mortality for all cancers combined

Deaths

Deaths from cancer, 2017-2019, UK.

Proportion of UK deaths

Cancer causes one in four of all deaths, 2021, UK

Trend over time

Change in cancer mortality rates since the early 1970s, UK

For cancers versus other causes of death see link.

47% of deaths for all cancers combined in the UK are in females, and 53% are in males (2017-2019).[a href=”#ref-"1-4] This reflects the sex differences in cancer incidence (higher in men than women) and survival (higher in women than men).

All cancer mortality rates (European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) rates) in the UK are significantly lower in females than in males (2017-2019).[1-4]

All cancers combined mortality rates (European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) rates) for persons are significantly higher than the UK average in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and significantly lower than the UK average in England.[1-4]

For all cancers combined there are both mortality and incidence differences between the countries.[1-4]

All Cancers Combined (C00-C97), 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 63,725 7,900 4,248 2,119 77,992
Crude Rate 225.2 283.0 266.9 221.8 231.8
AS Rate 219.4 267.6 236.1 236.0 224.8
AS Rate - 95% LCL 218.4 264.2 232.0 230.2 223.9
AS Rate - 95% UCL 220.4 271.0 240.2 241.8 225.7
Male Deaths 73,518 8,400 4,892 2,340 89,150
Crude Rate 265.8 316.9 316.1 252.6 271.9
AS Rate 315.5 368.7 334.7 335.8 321.4
AS Rate - 95% LCL 314.2 364.2 329.3 327.9 320.2
AS Rate - 95% UCL 316.8 373.3 340.1 343.7 322.6
Persons Deaths 137,243 16,300 9,140 4,459 167,142
Crude Rate 245.2 299.5 291.2 236.9 251.6
AS Rate 260.0 309.0 277.9 276.8 265.5
AS Rate - 95% LCL 259.2 306.3 274.6 272.2 264.8
AS Rate - 95% UCL 260.8 311.8 281.2 281.5 266.3

95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

See also

Cancer incidence for all cancers combined in the UK

Cancer survival for all cancers combined 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. All cancers combined mortality ICD-10 C00-C97.

Last reviewed:

All cancers combined European age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item (AS) mortality rates for females and males combined decreased by 19% in the UK between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.[1-4] The decrease was larger in males than in females.

Decreasing mortality is largely due to improved survival – and is despite a small increase in incidence rates.

For females, all cancers combined AS mortality rates in the UK decreased by 13% between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019. For males, all cancers combined AS mortality rates in the UK decreased by 27% between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019 all cancers combined AS mortality rates for females and males combined decreased by 10%. In females AS mortality rates decreased by 9%, and in males rates decreased by 12%.

All Cancers (C00-C97), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, UK, 1971-2019

See also

Find out more about the counting and coding of this data

Cancer incidence for all cancers combined in the UK

Cancer survival for all cancers combined 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, 1971-2019, C00-C97.

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:

An estimated 1.19 million cancer deaths had been avoided in the UK by 2021 because mortality rates dropped from their peak levels in the 1980s.[1]  

This includes nearly 802,000 male deaths avoided since the male mortality rate peaked in 1985, and more than 385,000 female deaths avoided since the female mortality rate peaked in 1989.

All Cancers Combined (C00-C97), Observed Deaths, and Expected Deaths if Mortality Rates Had Not Fallen from Peak, UK, 1971-2021

See also

Cancer incidence statistics for all cancers combined in the UK

Cancer survival statistics for all cancers combined in the UK

References

  1. Calculated by the Statistical Information Team at Cancer Research UK, 2023, based on method set out in Siegel R, Ward E, Brawley O, Jemal A., Cancer statistics, 2011: the impact of eliminating socioeconomic and racial disparities on premature cancer deaths. CA Cancer J Clin. 2011 Jul-Aug;61(4):212-36.

About this data

Data is for UK, 1971-2021, ICD-10 C00-C97.

The number of avoided cancer deaths is estimated by comparing the actual number of cancer deaths observed, with number of cancer deaths expected if mortality rates had not fallen from their overall peak. The number of cancer deaths expected is calculated by applying the cancer mortality rate in the overall peak year, to the total population in each subsequent year. These calculations are made for males and females separately in each five-year age band (e.g. using age-specific mortality rates for the overall peak year), and summed to create the UK total.

Last reviewed:

It is projected that the average number of deaths from all cancers combined in the UK every year will rise from more than 176,000 deaths in 2023-2025 to around 208,000 deaths in 2038-2040.[1]

All cancers combined mortality rates are projected to fall by 6% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 238 deaths per 100,000 people on average each year by 2038-2040.[1] This includes a similar decrease for males and females.

For females, all cancers combined European age standardised (AS) mortality rates in the UK are projected to fall by 6% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 202 deaths per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1] For males, AS rates are projected to fall by 7% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 282 deaths per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1]

All Cancers Combined (ICD-10 C00-C97), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, by Sex, UK, 1975-2040

Download the data table (xlsx)

See also

Find out how these projections were calculated

Projections of mortality by cancer type

Cancer risk

Cancer incidence projections 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 C00-C97.

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:

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the UK for males and females of all ages combined. Cancer accounted for 25% of all deaths in the UK in 2021.[1-3]

Cancer is the leading cause of death for children aged 1-14, and for adults aged 45-74. Cancer is the second-biggest cause of death for teenagers and younger adults aged 15-44 (where more deaths are due to external causes including accidents and suicide), and for elderly people aged 75+ (where more deaths are due to diseases of the circulatory system). For infants aged under 1, cancer is not among the biggest causes of death.[1-3]

The Four Most Common Causes of Deaths by ICD-10 Chapters, Persons, UK, 2021

Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

See also

Find out more about the counting and coding of this data

Cancer incidence by age statistics

Cancer survival by age statistics

References

About this data

Data is for UK, 2021, at ICD-10 chapter level for ICD-10 A00-R99, V01-Y98 and U00-U85, except for ICD-10 C00-D48 (neoplasms) which is split into C00-C97 (malignant neoplasms) and D00-D48 (in situ and benign neoplasms, and neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behaviour).

Last reviewed:

The UK mortality rate for all cancers combined is lower than most of the countries in Europe (rank 29 of 40), it is estimated.[1] The four most common causes of cancer death in the UK are the same as for Europe as a whole (lung, bowel (including anus), female breast and pancreas).

All Cancers Combined (C00-C97), Deaths, World Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK compared to Europe, 2020

See also

Visit the Global Cancer Observatory for an interactive web-based platform to explore the global cancer statistics.

International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP)

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2020 accessed via Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed February 2023.

About this data

Data is for: worldwide, 2020.

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

See the full details of data and methods.

Last reviewed:

The UK mortality rate for all cancers combined is higher than most of the countries in the world (rank 65 of 185), it is estimated.[1] The four most common causes of cancer death in the UK are different to those for the world as a whole.

All Cancers Combined (C00-C97), Deaths, World Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK compared to Worldwide, 2020

See also

Visit the Global Cancer Observatory for an interactive web-based platform to explore the global cancer statistics.

International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP)

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2020 accessed via Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed February 2023.

About this data

Data is for: worldwide, 2020.

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

See the full details of data and methods.

Last reviewed:

Local Cancer Statistics

Local level cancer statistics; search profiles by area, constituency or health board in the UK..

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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.