Prostate cancer is the 2nd most common cancer in men worldwide.
Prostate cancer is the 2nd most commonly occurring cancer in men and the 4th most common cancer overall. There were more than 1.4 million new cases of prostate cancer in 2020.
The 10 countries with the highest rates of prostate cancer and the highest number of deaths from prostate 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.
This table shows global prostate cancer incidence in 2020. Guadeloupe had the highest rate of prostate cancer in 2020, followed by Martinique.
Rank | Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
World | 1,414,259 | 30.7 | |
1 | France, Guadeloupe | 722 | 183.6 |
2 | France, Martinique | 659 | 168.2 |
3 | Ireland | 4,503 | 110.7 |
4 | Barbados | 279 | 110.3 |
5 | Saint Lucia | 135 | 103.2 |
6 | Estonia | 1,228 | 102.1 |
7 | Puerto Rico | 2,742 | 101.2 |
8 | Sweden | 10,949 | 100.4 |
9 | France | 66,070 | 99.0 |
10 | Bahamas | 201 | 98.0 |
This table shows global prostate cancer mortality in 2020. Zimbabwe had the highest rate of prostate cancer mortality in 2020, followed by Barbados.
Rank | Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
World | 375,304 | 7.7 | |
1 | Zimbabwe | 868 | 41.7 |
2 | Barbados | 137 | 40.3 |
3 | Haiti | 1,533 | 40.2 |
4 | Zambia | 823 | 40.1 |
5 | Jamaica | 844 | 39.4 |
6 | Trinidad and Tobago | 403 | 38.9 |
7 | Bahamas | 72 | 36.3 |
8 | Dominican Republic | 2,228 | 35.0 |
9 | Saint Lucia | 54 | 32.6 |
10 | Côte d’Ivoire | 1,600 | 29.5 |
There is strong evidence that:
There is some evidence that:
> Read more about what can cause and what can protect against prostate cancer
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.