UK cancer statistics

Find the latest cancer statistics for the UK, including incidence, mortality, survival rate and preventability. 1 in 2 people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

Cancer incidence in the UK

In the UK, 393,017 cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2021, the latest year for which data is available. Of these cancer cases, 199,941 were in men, and 193,076 were in women¹.

Compared with the 2019 data, this is an increase of just under 5,200 cases (around 1.3%). Cases in men have fallen slightly by 0.2% (down from 200,386), and cases of cancer have gone up 3.0% in women (up from 187,434).

Although there are very subtle differences, 'incidence' and 'cases' both broadly mean the same thing, and refer to the total recorded numbers. Prevalence refers to the proportion of a population who, in this case, have cancer over a specified period of time.

Cancer mortality in the UK

In the UK, there were 168,619 cancer deaths in 2021, the latest year for which data is available. Of these cancer deaths, 89,518 were in men, and 79,101 were in women. That’s more than 460 deaths per day.

It’s notable that although cancer deaths have gone up since 2019 (when there were 166,502 recorded), this represents an increase of less than 1%.

Most common cancers in the UK

The table below shows the most common 15 cancer types in the UK, based on new cases diagnosed in 2021.

Ranking	Cancer type	New cases (2021)
1	Breast	58,902
2	Prostate	51,318
3	Bowel	49,385
4	Lung	48,750
5	Skin (melanoma)	18,582
6	Non-Hodgkins lymphoma	13,518
7	Kidney	12,153
8	Pancreatic	11,426
9	Head and neck	11,033
10	Bladder	11,026
11	Womb	10,582
12	Leukaemia	9,464
13	Oesophageal	9,414
14	Ovarian	7,050
15	Stomach	6774

Breast cancer in the UK

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the UK, with 58,902 new cases in 2021. Three in 10 new cases of cancer in women in 2021 was breast cancer (30.5%).

Breast cancer is rare in men, with around 400 new cases diagnosed each year in the UK.

Prostate cancer in the UK

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the UK. In 2021, 51,318 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed – more than a quarter (27.5%) of all new cases of cancer in men in the UK.

Bowel cancer

Also known as colorectal cancer, bowel cancer is the cancer type with the 3rd highest number of new cases in the UK. In 2021, there were 49,385 new cases (men and women combined), accounting for 12.5% of the total number of new cases.

In fact, the top 4 cancer types accounted for more than half (53%) the total number of new cases in 2021 in the UK.

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is the 4th most common type of cancer in the UK across men and women, with 48,750 new cases in 2021 – totalling 12.4% of all new cases (men and women combined).

How to prevent cancer

Cancer is the cause of death for a large number of people each year. Overall, scientists estimate that around 40% of cancer cases could be prevented. That’s around 157,000 cases every year in the UK.

There are a number of different factors that can influence your chances of developing cancer. However, there are steps that can be taken to help people reduce that risk.

Alongside not smoking, eating a healthy diet, being more active each day and maintaining a healthy weight are important ways you can reduce your cancer risk.

¹Cancer statistics based on combined data from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. World Cancer Research Fund, 2022.

Breast cancer