Gallbladder cancer mortality statistics

Deaths

Deaths from gallbladder cancer, 2017-2019, UK.

Percentage of all deaths

Percentage gallbladder cancer contributes to total cancer deaths, 2017-2019, UK

Age

Peak mortality rate for gallbladder cancer, 2017-2019, UK

Trend over time

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

Gallbladder cancer is not among the 20 most common causes of cancer death in the UK, accounting for less than 1% of all cancer deaths (2017-2019).[1-4]

In females in the UK, gallbladder cancer is not among the 20 most common causes of cancer death (less than 1% 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).

71% of gallbladder cancer deaths in the UK are in females, and 29% are in males (2017-2019).

Gallbladder 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).

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

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

Gallbladder cancer is one of the few non-sex-specific cancer types with a higher mortality ASR in women than men, this is probably due to sex differences in incidence.

Gallbladder Cancer (C23), 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 373 48 26 17 464
Crude Rate 1.3 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.4
AS Rate 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.8 1.3
AS Rate - 95% LCL 1.2 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.3
AS Rate - 95% UCL 1.4 1.9 1.8 2.4 1.4
Male Deaths 152 19 11 4 185
Crude Rate 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.6
AS Rate 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.7
AS Rate - 95% LCL 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.2 0.6
AS Rate - 95% UCL 0.7 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.7
Persons Deaths 524 67 37 21 649
Crude Rate 0.9 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.0
AS Rate 1.0 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.0
AS Rate - 95% LCL 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.0
AS Rate - 95% UCL 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.6 1.1
95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

See also

Gallbladder cancer incidence statistics by UK region

Gallbladder 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, C23.

Last reviewed:

Gallbladder 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 around 6 in 10 deaths (59%) were in people aged 75 and over.[1-4] This largely reflects higher incidence and lower survival for gallbladder cancer in older people.

Age-specific mortality rates rise steeply from around age 50-54 and drop slightly in the 90+ age group in females only. The highest rates are in the 85 to 89 age group for females and the 90+ age group for males. Mortality rates are significantly higher in females than males in a number of (mainly older) age groups. The gap is widest at age 40 to 44, when the age-specific mortality rate is 6.4 times higher in females than males.

Gallbladder Cancer (C23), Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, UK, 2017-2019

See also

Gallbladder cancer incidence statistics by age

Gallbladder 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 C23.

Last reviewed:

Gallbladder cancer age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item rates for females and males combined decreased by 38% in the UK between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.[1-4] The decrease was of a similar size in females and males.

For females, gallbladder cancer AS mortality rates in the UK decreased by 33% between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019. For males, gallbladder cancer AS mortality rates in the UK decreased by 39% between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), gallbladder cancer AS mortality rates for females and males combined increased by 16%. In females AS mortality rates increased by 19%, and in males rates remained stable.

Gallbladder Cancer (C23), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons 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.

Gallbladder cancer mortality rates have decreased overall in some broad age groups in females and males combined in the UK since the early 1970s, but have remained stable in others.[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have remained stable, in 25-49s have remained stable, in 50-59s have decreased by 51%, in 60-69s have decreased by 50%, in 70-79s have decreased by 44% and in 80+s have decreased by 17%.

Gallbladder Cancer (C23), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, By Age, UK, 1971-2019

See also

Gallbladder cancer incidence 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, C23.

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 gallbladder cancer in the UK every year will rise from around 660 deaths in 2023-2025 to around 820 deaths in 2038-2040.[1]

Gallbladder cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by 2% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 1 death per 100,000 people on average each year by 2038-2040.[1] This includes a similar decrease for males and females.

For females, gallbladder cancer European age standardised (AS) Open a glossary item mortality rates in the UK are projected to fall by less than 1% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 1 death per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1] For males, AS rates are projected to fall by 6% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to less than 1 death per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1]

Gallbladder cancer (C23), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, by Sex, UK, 1975-2040

Download the data (xlsx)

See also

Find out how these projections were calculated

Mortality trends over time for gallbladder 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 C23.

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:

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Cancer stats explained

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