Global cancer statistics for the most common cancers in the world.
Find information about world cancer statistics for the most common types of cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) in 2020, the latest year available.
There were an estimated 18.1 million cancer cases around the world in 2020. Of these, 9.3 million cases were in men and 8.8 million in women. The most common cancers globally are listed in the tables below.
With this growing global burden, prevention of cancer is one of the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century. Our Cancer Prevention Recommendations work together as an overall way of living healthily to prevent cancer through changing dietary patterns, reducing alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, and achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight.
As well as action by individuals, achieving healthy patterns of diet and sustained physical activity over the life course requires concerted and integrated action from all sectors of society, including civil society, private sector, and health and other professions.
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Rank | Cancer | New cases in 2020 | % of all cancers |
---|---|---|---|
All cancers* | 18,094,716 | ||
1 | Breast | 2,261,419 | 12.5 |
2 | Lung | 2,206,771 | 12.2 |
3 | Colorectal** | 1,931,590 | 10.7 |
4 | Prostate | 1,414,259 | 7.8 |
5 | Stomach | 1,089,103 | 6.0 |
6 | Liver | 905,677 | 5.0 |
7 | Cervix uteri | 604,127 | 3.3 |
8 | Oesophagus | 604,100 | 3.3 |
9 | Thyroid | 586,202 | 3.2 |
10 | Bladder | 573,278 | 3.2 |
11 | Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 544,352 | 3.0 |
12 | Pancreas | 495,773 | 2.7 |
13 | Leukaemia | 474,519 | 2.6 |
14 | Kidney | 431,288 | 2.4 |
15 | Corpus uteri | 417,367 | 2.3 |
16 | Lip, oral cavity | 377,713 | 2.1 |
17 | Melanoma of skin | 324,635 | 1.8 |
18 | Ovary | 313,959 | 1.7 |
19 | Brain, central nervous system | 308,102 | 1.7 |
20 | Larynx | 184,615 | 1.0 |
21 | Multiple myeloma | 176,404 | 1.0 |
22 | Nasopharynx | 133,354 | 0.7 |
23 | Gallbladder | 115,949 | 0.6 |
24 | Oropharynx | 98,412 | 0.5 |
25 | Hypopharynx | 84,254 | 0.5 |
26 | Hodgkin lymphoma | 83,087 | 0.5 |
27 | Testis | 74,458 | 0.4 |
28 | Salivary glands | 53,583 | 0.3 |
29 | Vulva | 45,240 | 0.3 |
30 | Penis | 36,068 | 0.2 |
31 | Kaposi sarcoma | 34,270 | 0.2 |
32 | Mesothelioma | 30,870 | 0.2 |
33 | Vagina | 17,908 | 0.1 |
Rank | Cancer | New cases in 2020 | % of all cancers |
---|---|---|---|
All cancers* | 9,342,957 | ||
1 | Lung | 1,435,943 | 15.4 |
2 | Prostate | 1,414,259 | 15.1 |
3 | Colorectal** | 1,065,960 | 11.4 |
4 | Stomach | 719,523 | 7.7 |
5 | Liver | 632,320 | 6.8 |
6 | Bladder | 440,864 | 4.7 |
7 | Oesophagus | 418,350 | 4.5 |
8 | Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 304,151 | 3.3 |
9 | Kidney | 271,249 | 2.9 |
10 | Leukaemia | 269,503 | 2.9 |
11 | Lip, oral cavity | 264,211 | 2.8 |
12 | Pancreas | 262,865 | 2.8 |
13 | Melanoma of skin | 173,844 | 1.9 |
14 | Brain, central nervous system | 168,346 | 1.8 |
15 | Larynx | 160,265 | 1.7 |
16 | Thyroid | 137,287 | 1.5 |
17 | Multiple melanoma | 98,613 | 1.1 |
18 | Nasopharynx | 96,371 | 1.0 |
19 | Oropharynx | 79,045 | 0.8 |
20 | Testis | 74,458 | 0.8 |
21 | Hypopharynx | 70,254 | 0.8 |
22 | Hodgkin lymphoma | 48,981 | 0.5 |
23 | Gallbladder | 41,062 | 0.4 |
24 | Penis | 36,068 | 0.4 |
25 | Salivary glands | 29,694 | 0.3 |
26 | Kaposi sarcoma | 23,413 | 0.3 |
27 | Mesothelioma | 21,560 | 0.2 |
Rank | Cancer | New cases in 2020 | % of all cancers |
---|---|---|---|
All cancers* | 8,751,759 | ||
1 | Breast | 2,261,419 | 25.8 |
2 | Colorectal ** | 865,630 | 9.9 |
3 | Lung | 770,828 | 8.8 |
4 | Cervix uteri | 604,127 | 6.9 |
5 | Thyroid | 448,915 | 5.1 |
6 | Corpus uteri | 417,367 | 4.8 |
7 | Stomach | 369,580 | 4.2 |
8 | Ovary | 313,959 | 3.6 |
9 | Liver | 273,357 | 3.1 |
10 | Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 240,201 | 2.7 |
11 | Pancreas | 232,908 | 2.7 |
12 | Leukaemia | 205,016 | 2.3 |
13 | Oesophagus | 185,750 | 2.1 |
14 | Kidney | 160,039 | 1.8 |
15 | Melanoma of skin | 150,791 | 1.7 |
16 | Brain, central nervous system | 139,756 | 1.6 |
17 | Bladder | 132,414 | 1.5 |
18 | Lip, oral cavity | 113,502 | 1.3 |
19 | Multiple myeloma | 77,791 | 0.9 |
20 | Gallbladder | 74,887 | 0.9 |
21 | Vulva | 45,240 | 0.5 |
22 | Nasopharynx | 36,983 | 0.4 |
23 | Hodgkin lymphoma | 34,106 | 0.4 |
24 | Larynx | 24,350 | 0.3 |
25 | Salivary glands | 23,889 | 0.3 |
26 | Oropharynx | 19,367 | 0.2 |
27 | Vagina | 17,908 | 0.2 |
28 | Hypopharynx | 14,000 | 0.2 |
29 | Kaposi sarcoma | 10,857 | 0.1 |
30 | Mesothelioma | 9,310 | 0.1 |
*Excludes non-melanoma skin cancer; includes cases of “other and unspecified cancers” (not listed here)
**Calculated by adding cases of colon cancer and cases of rectal 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.