Skin cancer statistics

Melanoma of skin is the 17th most common cancer worldwide.

There are two main types of skin cancer: melanoma and non-melanoma. The most common non-melanoma tumours are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Skin cancer represents a particular challenge for estimating incidence for several reasons. There are multiple sub-types of skin cancer, which can present problems when collating data. For example, non-melanoma skin cancer is often not tracked by cancer registries, or registrations of this cancer are often incomplete because most cases are successfully treated via surgery or ablation. Due to these factors, it is likely that the reported global incidence of skin cancer is an underestimate.

Latest skin cancer data

Melanoma of skin is the 17th most common cancer worldwide. It is the 13th most common cancer in men and the 15th most common cancer in women.

There were more than 150,000 new cases of melanoma of skin in 2020.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is often excluded from the reporting of cancer statistics. It is not reported in global total cancer cases. This is because it is very common, often under-diagnosed, and commonly treated within primary care and therefore likely to be under-reported in national cancer registry data.

The 10 countries with the highest rates of both types of skin cancer and the highest number of deaths from both types of skin cancer in 2020 are shown in the tables below.

ASR = age-standardised rates. These are a summary measure of the rate of disease that a population would have if it had a standard age structure. Standardisation is necessary when comparing populations that differ with respect to age because age has a powerful influence on the risk of dying from cancer.

Melanoma skin cancer rates

The following 3 tables show total global melanoma skin cancer incidence and rates in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Australia had the highest overall rate of melanoma of skin in 2020, followed by New Zealand.

Rank	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	324,635	3.4
1	Australia	16,171	36.6
2	New Zealand	2,801	31.6
3	Denmark	2,886	29.7
4	The Netherlands	8,310	27.0
5	Norway	2,567	26.4
6	Sweden	4,266	23.3
7	Switzerland	3,357	21.6
8	Germany	31,468	20.5
9	Slovenia	735	19.7
10	Finland	2,090	19.5

Rank (men)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	173,844	3.8
1	Australia	9,462	42.9
2	New Zealand	1,541	34.8
3	The Netherlands	4,420	27.1
4	Denmark	1,382	26.2
5	Norway	1,298	25.8
6	Switzerland	1,822	22.8
7	Sweden	2,146	22.2
8	Germany	17,260	21.1
9	Slovenia	379	19.9
10	Finland	1,090	19.5

Rank (women)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	150,791	3.0
1	Denmark	1,504	33.6
2	Australia	6,709	30.8
3	New Zealand	1,260	28.9
4	Norway	1,269	27.5
5	The Netherlands	3,890	27.4
6	Sweden	2,120	24.6
7	Belgium	1,951	22.6
8	Switzerland	1,535	20.8
9	Germany	14,208	20.4
10	Ireland	772	20.3

Non-melanoma skin cancer rates

The following 3 tables show total global non-melanoma skin cancer incidence and rates in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Australia had the highest overall rate of non-melanoma skin cancer in 2020, followed by New Zealand.

Rank	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	1,198,073	11.0
1	Australia	58,839	140.0
2	New Zealand	10,271	127.5
3	US	524,737	64.9
4	Canada	61,645	60.6
5	Switzerland	12,772	49.5
6	Ireland	4,788	46.2
7	The Netherlands	17,413	34.5
8	Germany	90,379	31.3
9	Montenegro	378	29.6
10	Luxembourg	389	27.3

Rank (men)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	722,348	15.1
1	Australia	34,318	169.8
2	New Zealand	5,639	148.1
3	US	336,091	92.2
4	Canada	35,186	76.0
5	Ireland	3,075	64.0
6	Switzerland	6,948	60.4
7	The Netherlands	10,179	42.6
8	Germany	55,055	41.6
9	Montenegro	231	40.7
10	UK	32,609	34.8

Rank (women)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	475,725	7.9
1	Australia	24,521	111.5
2	New Zealand	4,632	108.7
3	Canada	26,459	47.6
4	US	188,646	42.7
5	Switzerland	5,824	40.3
6	Ireland	1,713	30.2
7	The Netherlands	7,234	28.1
8	Luxembourg	184	24.1
9	Germany	35,324	23.6
10	Belgium	4,149	22.2

Melanoma skin cancer deaths

The following 3 tables show total global melanoma skin cancer mortality in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. New Zealand had the highest rate of melanoma skin cancer mortality in 2020, followed by Norway.

Rank	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	57,043	0.6
1	New Zealand	472	4.7
2	Norway	375	3.2
3	Montenegro	32	3.0
4	Slovakia	317	2.8
5	Slovenia	127	2.6
6	Australia	1,408	2.4
7	Denmark	341	2.4
8	Croatia	236	2.4
9	The Netherlands	906	2.3
10	Serbia	393	2.3

Rank (men)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	32,385	0.7
1	New Zealand	321	6.7
2	Montenegro	20	4.0
3	Norway	207	3.8
4	Slovakia	177	3.8
5	Slovenia	76	3.4
6	Croatia	140	3.3
7	Australia	891	3.2
8	Serbia	242	3.1
9	North Macedonia	46	2.8
10	The Netherlands	543	2.7

Rank (women)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	24,658	0.5
1	New Zealand	151	2.8
2	Norway	168	2.6
3	Montenegro	12	2.3
4	Slovakia	140	2.2
5	Denmark	164	2.1
6	The Netherlands	363	1.9
7	Slovenia	51	1.9
8	Sweden	233	1.8
9	Australia	517	1.7
10	Serbia	151	1.7

Non-melanoma cancer deaths

The following 3 tables show total global non-melanoma skin cancer mortality in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Papua New Guinea had the highest rate of non-melanoma skin cancer mortality in 2020, followed by Namibia.

Rank	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	63,731	0.6
1	Papua New Guinea	270	5.1
2	Namibia	53	3.8
3	Mozambique	375	2.5
4	Zimbabwe	159	2.4
5	Angola	250	2.2
6	Comoros	8	2.2
7	Togo	85	2.0
8	Eswatini	12	1.9
9	Somalia	138	1.8
10	Ethiopia	1,087	1.7

Rank (men)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	37,596	0.8
1	Papua New Guinea	150	6.1
2	Namibia	31	6.0
3	Mozambique	189	3.4
4	Angola	146	2.7
5	Lebanon	100	2.7
6	Georgia	91	2.7
7	Togo	48	2.4
8	Venezuela	323	2.2
9	Zimbabwe	57	2.2
10	Cuba	270	2.1

Rank (women)	Country	Number	ASR/100,000
	World	26,135	0.4
1	Papua New Guinea	120	4.3
2	Namibia	22	2.5
3	Zimbabwe	102	2.4
4	Burkina Faso	108	2.1
5	Comoros	4	2.1
6	Mozambique	186	2.0
7	Somalia	76	2.0
8	Eswatini	7	2.0
9	Ethiopia	612	1.9
10	Angola	104	1.7

What causes skin cancer?

Over-exposure to certain types of light, such as ultra-violet rays from the sun or tanning devices, is the principal cause of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.

There is evidence that the following are also associated with an increased risk of skin cancer: radiation, medicines used to suppress the immune system after organ transplantation, infection with human papilloma virus, exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, genetics and family history, and skin pigmentation.

There is also strong evidence that:

drinking water contaminated with arsenic INCREASES the risk of skin cancer
being tall INCREASES the risk of malignant melanoma
beta-carotene (as high-dose supplements) has no substantial effect on the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer

There is some evidence that:

drinking coffee might decrease the risk of malignant melanoma in women and might decrease the risk of basal cell carcinoma in men and women
consuming alcoholic drinks might increase the risk of malignant melanoma and basal cell carcinoma
being tall might increase the risk of basal cell carcinoma
greater birthweight might increase the risk of malignant melanoma

The data on this page comes from the Global Cancer Observatory, owned by the World Health Organization/International Agency for Research on Cancer, and is used with permission. The cancer incidence figures and ASRs were compiled using the data available here (last accessed 23 March 2022). For queries about our cancer statistics please email the Research Interpretation team: ri@wcrf.org.