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Nasopharyngeal cancer statistics

Nasopharyngeal cancer is the 23rd most common cancer worldwide. It is the 19th most common cancer in men and the 22nd most common cancer in women.

Nasopharynx

Latest nasopharyngeal cancer data

There were 120,434 new cases of nasopharyngeal cancer in 2022. The tables below give information about the countries with the highest rates, incidence and mortality from nasopharyngeal cancer.

Nasopharyngeal cancer age-standardised rates

Age-standardised rates (ASR) 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 developing/dying from cancer.

It is important to note that some countries have a high ASR but a low total number of cases, while other have a low ASR but a high number of cases. This is because ASRs are reported per 100,000 people. So, for example, an ASR of 10 in a population of 100,000 = 10 cases of cancer, but an ASR of 1 in a population of 10 million = 100 cases.

The following table gives the top 5 countries by ASR for nasopharyngeal cancer incidence for both sexes combined.

Country New cases 2022 ASR
Maldives 36 7.5
Brunei 32 6.4
Indonesia 18,835 6.1
Malaysia 2,144 5.9
Singapore 540 5.4

The following tables give the top 5 countries by ASR for nasopharyngeal cancer incidence for men and women in 2022.

Country New cases in men ASR
Maldives 29 10.8
Indonesia 14,497 9.6
Malaysia 1,634 8.9
Brunei 22 8.7
Singapore 417 8.0
Country New cases in women ASR
Brunei 10 4.0
Maldives 7 3.5
Indonesia 4,338 2.8
Malaysia 510 2.8
Laos 85 2.7

Nasopharyngeal cancer incidence (cases)

China, Indonesia and India had the highest number of nasopharyngeal cancer cases in 2022.

The following 3 tables show the 10 countries with the highest nasopharyngeal cancer incidence in 2022 – 1st for both sexes, then men and women separately. We have also included the ASRs for each of these countries.

Rank Country New cases ASR/100,000
World 120,434 1.3
1 China 51,010 2.4
2 Indonesia 18,385 6.1
3 India 6,519 0.5
4 Vietnam 5,613 4.7
5 Philippines 3,684 3.5
6 Thailand 2,350 2.2
7 Malaysia 2,144 5.9
8 Myanmar 2,097 3.5
9 US 2,008 0.4
10 Algeria 1,608 3.5
Rank Country New cases in men ASR/100,000
World 86,289 1.9
1 China 35.656 3.4
2 Indonesia 14,497 9.6
3 India 4,275 0.6
4 Vietnam 4,003 7.1
5 Philippines 2,539 5.2
6 Thailand 1,687 3.3
7 Malaysia 1,634 8.9
8 US 1,420 0.6
9 Myanmar 1,400 5.1
10 Algeria 1,109 4.8
Rank Country New cases in women ASR/100,000
World 34,145 0.7
1 China 14,354 1.3
2 Indonesia 4,338 2.8
3 India 2,244 0.3
4 Vietnam 1,610 2.5
5 Philippines 1,145 2.1
6 Myanmar 697 2.1
7 Thailand 663 1.2
8 US 588 0.2
9 Malaysia 510 2.8
10 Algeria 499 2.2

Nasopharyngeal cancer deaths

China, Indonesia and India had the highest number of deaths from nasopharyngeal cancer in 2022.

The following 3 tables show the 10 countries with the highest number of nasopharyngeal cancer deaths in 2022 – 1st for both sexes, then men and women separately. We have also included the ASRs for each of these countries.

Rank Country Number ASR/100,000
World 73,482 0.8
1 China 28,408 1.2
2 Indonesia 12,949 4.3
3 India 4,780 0.3
4 Vietnam 3,453 2.9
5 Philippines 2,306 2.3
6 Thailand 1,506 1.3
7 Malaysia 1,496 4.2
8 Myanmar 1,443 2.4
9 Nigeria 1,092 0.9
10 Algeria 971 2.2
Rank Country Number in men ASR/100,000
World 54,104 1.2
1 China 21,181 1.8
2 Indonesia 10,251 7.0
3 India 3,136 0.4
4 Vietnam 2,465 4.5
5 Philippines 1,690 3.7
6 Malaysia 1,174 6.5
7 Thailand 1,084 2.0
8 Myanmar 990 3.7
9 Nigeria 754 1.4
10 Algeria 682 3.1
Rank Country Number in women ASR/100,000
World 19,378 0.4
1 China 7,127 0.6
2 Indonesia 2,698 1.7
3 India 1,644 0.2
4 Vietnam 988 1.5
5 Philippines 616 1.1
6 Myanmar 453 1.4
7 Thailand 422 0.7
8 Nigeria 338 0.5
9 Malaysia 322 1.8
10 Algeria 289 1.3