Data for cancer frequency by country

This page presents the age-standardised rate for all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) ordered by the countries with the 50 highest rates.

The age-standardised rate for all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) for men and women combined was 182 per 100,000 in 2012. The rate was higher for men (205 per 100,000) than women (165 per 100,000).

Both sexes

  • The highest cancer rate for men and women together was found in Denmark with 338 people per 100,000 being diagnosed in 2012.
  • The age-standardised rate was at least 300 per 100,000 for nine countries (Denmark, France, Australia, Belgium, Norway, United States of America, Ireland, Republic of Korea and The Netherlands).
  • The countries in the top ten come from Europe, Oceania, Northern America and Asia.
Rank Country Age-Standardised Rate per 100,000 (World)
1 Denmark 338.1
2 France (metropolitan) 324.6
3 Australia 323.0
4 Belgium 321.1
5 Norway 318.3
6 United States of America 318.0
7 Ireland 307.9
8 Korea, Republic of 307.8
9 The Netherlands 304.8
10 New Caledonia 297.9
11 Slovenia 296.3
12 Canada 295.7
13 New Zealand 295.0
14 Czech Republic 293.8
15 Switzerland 287.0
16 Hungary 285.4
17 Iceland 284.3
18 Germany 283.8
19 Israel 283.2
20 Luxembourg 280.3
21 Italy 278.6
22 Slovakia 276.9
23 United Kingdom 272.9
24 Sweden 270.0
25 Serbia 269.7
26 Croatia 266.9
27 Barbados 263.1
28 Armenia 257.0
29 Finland 256.8
30 French Polynesia 255.0
31 Austria 254.1
32 Lithuania 251.9
33 Uruguay 251.0
34 Spain 249.0
35 Latvia 246.8
36 Portugal 246.2
37 France, Martinique 245.0
38 Malta 242.9
39 Estonia 242.8
40 FYR Macedonia 239.3
41 Montenegro 238.3
42 Kazakhstan 236.5
43 Bulgaria 234.8
44 Poland 229.6
45 Romania 224.2
46 Belarus 218.7
47 Cuba 218.0
48 Japan 217.1
49 Argentina 216.7
50 Puerto Rico 211.1

Source: Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray, F.
GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.1, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC CancerBase No. 11 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2014. Available from: http://globocan.iarc.fr, accessed on 16/01/2015.

Men

  • The highest cancer rate was found in France with 385 men per 100,000 being diagnosed in 2012.
  • The age-standardised rate was at least 350 per 100,000 in eight countries (France, Australia, Norway, Belgium, Martinque, Slovenia, Hungary and Denmark).
  • The countries in the top ten come from Europe, Oceania and the Americas.
Rank Country Age-Standardised Rate per 100,000 (World)
1 France (metropolitan) 385.3
2 Australia 373.9
3 Norway 368.7
4 Belgium 364.8
5 France, Martinique 358.4
6 Slovenia 358.2
7 Hungary 356.1
8 Denmark 354.3
9 United States of America 347.0
10 Czech Republic 345.9
11 Ireland 343.3
12 Korea, Republic of 340.0
13 Slovakia 338.2
14 Switzerland 337.9
15 New Caledonia 330.7
16 The Netherlands 327.8
17 Latvia 325.0
18 Germany 323.7
19 Estonia 321.9
20 Canada 320.8
21 New Zealand 320.1
22 Croatia 319.9
23 Israel 318.0
24 Italy 312.9
25 Spain 312.8
26 Lithuania 311.8
27 Luxembourg 309.1
28 Portugal 306.3
29 Armenia 305.6
30 Iceland 299.5
31 Serbia 299.2
32 Uruguay 297.5
33 Sweden 296.8
34 Austria 295.2
35 Finland 290.1
36 French Polynesia 287.4
37 United Kingdom 284.0
38 Kazakhstan 282.2
39 Barbados 277.2
40 Belarus 275.5
41 Trinidad and Tobago 273.5
42 Romania 271.0
43 Poland 269.2
44 Malta 267.7
45 FYR Macedonia 265.5
46 Montenegro 262.7
47 France, Guadeloupe 260.9
48 Bulgaria 260.5
49 Japan 260.4
50 Turkey 257.8

Source: Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray, F.
GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.1, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC CancerBase No. 11 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2014. Available from: http://globocan.iarc.fr, accessed on 16/01/2015.

Women

  • The highest cancer rate was found in Denmark with 329 women per 100,000 being diagnosed in 2012.
  • The age-standardised rate was at least 280 per 100,000 for Denmark, United States of America, Republic of Korea, The Netherlands and Belgium.
  • The countries in the top ten come from Europe, Oceania, Asia and Northern America.
Rank Country Age-Standardised Rate per 100,000 (World)
1 Denmark 328.8
2 United States of America 297.4
3 Korea, Republic of 293.6
4 The Netherlands 289.6
5 Belgium 288.9
6 Ireland 278.9
7 Australia 278.6
8 Canada 277.4
9 Norway 277.1
10 France (metropolitan) 267.7
11 New Zealand 274.3
12 Iceland 274.2
13 New Caledonia 269.3
14 United Kingdom 267.3
15 Luxembourg 259.6
16 Czech Republic 258.9
17 Israel 258.7
18 Barbados 258.1
19 Italy 255.2
20 Germany 252.5
21 Slovenia 251.5
22 Sweden 248.7
23 Serbia 247.6
24 Switzerland 245.9
25 Slovakia 238.0
26 Hungary 236.5
27 Finland 234.2
28 Croatia 231.6
29 Malta 228.9
30 French Polynesia 227.3
31 Armenia 226.4
32 Lithuania 224.0
33 Bahamas 223.4
34 Austria 222.7
35 Uruguay 220.9
36 FYR Macedonia 220.8
37 Bulgaria 220.1
38 Montenegro 219.7
39 Kazakhstan 216.7
40 Argentina 211.8
41 Zimbabwe 209.1
42 Latvia 206.5
43 Poland 205.6
44 Estonia 202.7
45 Singapore 198.7
46 Cyprus 198.2
47 Spain 198.1
48 Portugal 198.1
49 Kenya 196.6
50 Mauritius 193.9

Source: Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray, F.
GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.1, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC CancerBase No. 11 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2014. Available from: http://globocan.iarc.fr, accessed on 16/01/2015.