Oesophageal cancer statistics

Oesophageal cancer is the 8th most common cancer worldwide.

Latest oesophageal cancer data

Oesophageal cancer is the 8th most common cancer worldwide. It is the 7th most common cancer in men and the 13th most common cancer in women.

There were more than 600,000 new cases of oesophageal cancer in 2020.

The 10 countries with the highest rates of oesophageal cancer and the highest number of deaths from oesophageal 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.

Oesophageal cancer rates

The following 3 tables show total global oesophageal cancer incidence and rates in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Malawi had the highest overall rate of oesophageal cancer in 2020, followed by Mongolia.

RankCountryNumberASR/100,000
World604,1006.3
1Malawi1,75617.5
2Mongolia39817.1
3Bangladesh21,74514.8
4China324,42213.8
5Kenya2,97412.7
6Uganda2,11112.4
7Zimbabwe78111.3
8Cabo Verde4610.9
9Mozambique1,5149.8
10Tanzania2,6429.5
Rank (men)CountryNumberASR/100,000
World418,3509.3
1Cabo Verde4121.6
2Mongolia20620.7
3Malawi92520.3
4China223,04419.7
5Bangladesh14,14118.7
6Uganda1,28716.5
7Zimbabwe35813.9
8Kenya1,36213.3
9Japan22,16612.9
10Tanzania1,70512.8
Rank (women)CountryNumberASR/100,000
World185,7503.6
1Malawi83115.2
2Mongolia19214.5
3Kenya1,61212.3
4Bangladesh7,60410.7
5Zimbabwe4239.9
6Mozambique8609.4
7Uganda8248.9
8China101,3788.2
9Turkmenistan2067.6
10Comoros207.5

Oesophageal cancer deaths

The following 3 tables show total global oesophageal cancer mortality in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Malawi had the highest overall mortality rate from oesophageal cancer in 2020, followed by Mongolia.

RankCountryNumberASR/100,000
World544,0765.6
1Malawi1,65716.7
2Mongolia37316.2
3Bangladesh20,31913.9
4China301,13512.7
5Kenya2,74312.0
6Uganda2,00311.8
7Zimbabwe71810.6
8Cabo Verde4310.5
9Mozambique1,4279.4
10Comoros459.3
Rank (men)CountryNumberASR/100,000
World374,3138.3
1Cabo Verde3820.8
2Mongolia19720.3
3Malawi86919.5
4China206,78018.3
5Bangladesh13,21117.5
6Uganda1,21915.8
7Zimbabwe32513.1
8Kenya1,26812.7
9Tanzania1,63012.4
10Comoros2611.8
Rank (women)CountryNumberASR/100,000
World169,7633.2
1Malawi78814.5
2Mongolia17613.4
3Kenya1,47511.6
4Bangladesh7,10810.1
5Zimbabwe3939.3
6Mozambique8199.0
7Uganda7848.6
8China94,3557.4
9Turkmenistan2027.4
10Comoros197.3

What causes oesophageal cancer?

There is evidence that the following are associated with an increased risk of oesophageal cancer: smoking, HPV infection, gastro-oesophageal reflux and oesophageal achalasia. There is also strong evidence that:

  • being overweight or obese INCREASES the risk of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus. Being overweight or obese was assessed by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist-hip ratio
  • consuming alcoholic drinks INCREASES the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma
  • regularly consuming maté, as drunk in the traditional style in South America, INCREASES the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma

There is some evidence that:

> Read more about what can cause and what can protect against oesophageal cancer

Notes

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.