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.
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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 |
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