Worldwide cancer data

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.

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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.

> Read more about our global policy work

Global cancer incidence: both sexes

  • Breast and lung cancers were the most common cancers worldwide, contributing 12.5% and 12.2% of the total number of new cases diagnosed in 2020.
  • Colorectal cancer was the third most common cancer with 1.9 million new cases in 2020, contributing 10.7% of new cases.
  • In all tables, figures for % of all cancers exclude non-melanoma skin cancer.
RankCancerNew cases in 2020% of all cancers
All cancers*18,094,716
1Breast2,261,41912.5
2Lung2,206,77112.2
3Colorectal**1,931,59010.7
4Prostate1,414,2597.8
5Stomach1,089,1036.0
6Liver905,6775.0
7Cervix uteri604,1273.3
8Oesophagus604,1003.3
9Thyroid586,2023.2
10Bladder573,2783.2
11Non-Hodgkin lymphoma544,3523.0
12Pancreas495,7732.7
13Leukaemia474,5192.6
14Kidney431,2882.4
15Corpus uteri417,3672.3
16Lip, oral cavity377,7132.1
17Melanoma of skin324,6351.8
18Ovary313,9591.7
19Brain, central nervous system308,1021.7
20Larynx184,6151.0
21Multiple myeloma176,4041.0
22Nasopharynx133,3540.7
23Gallbladder115,9490.6
24Oropharynx98,4120.5
25Hypopharynx84,2540.5
26Hodgkin lymphoma83,0870.5
27Testis74,4580.4
28Salivary glands53,5830.3
29Vulva45,2400.3
30Penis36,0680.2
31Kaposi sarcoma34,2700.2
32Mesothelioma30,8700.2
33Vagina17,9080.1

Global cancer incidence in men

  • Lung cancer was the most common cancer in men worldwide, contributing 15.4% of the total number of new cases diagnosed in 2020.
  • The top three – lung, prostate and colorectal cancers – contributed 41.9% of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer).
  • Other common cancers contributing more than 5% were stomach and liver.
RankCancerNew cases in 2020% of all cancers
All cancers*9,342,957
1Lung1,435,94315.4
2Prostate1,414,25915.1
3Colorectal**1,065,96011.4
4Stomach719,5237.7
5Liver632,3206.8
6Bladder440,8644.7
7Oesophagus418,3504.5
8Non-Hodgkin lymphoma304,1513.3
9Kidney271,2492.9
10Leukaemia269,5032.9
11Lip, oral cavity264,2112.8
12Pancreas262,8652.8
13Melanoma of skin173,8441.9
14Brain, central nervous system168,3461.8
15Larynx160,2651.7
16Thyroid137,2871.5
17Multiple melanoma98,6131.1
18Nasopharynx96,3711.0
19Oropharynx79,0450.8
20Testis74,4580.8
21Hypopharynx70,2540.8
22Hodgkin lymphoma48,9810.5
23Gallbladder41,0620.4
24Penis36,0680.4
25Salivary glands29,6940.3
26Kaposi sarcoma23,4130.3
27Mesothelioma21,5600.2

Global cancer incidence in women

  • Breast cancer was the most common cancer in women worldwide, contributing 25.8% of the total number of new cases diagnosed in 2020.
  • The top three – breast, colorectal and lung cancers – contributed 44.5% of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer).
  • Cervical cancer was the fourth most common cancer in women, contributing 6.9% of the total number of new cases diagnosed in 2020.
RankCancerNew cases in 2020% of all cancers
All cancers*8,751,759
1Breast2,261,41925.8
2Colorectal **865,6309.9
3Lung770,8288.8
4Cervix uteri604,1276.9
5Thyroid448,9155.1
6Corpus uteri417,3674.8
7Stomach369,5804.2
8Ovary313,9593.6
9Liver273,3573.1
10Non-Hodgkin lymphoma240,2012.7
11Pancreas232,9082.7
12Leukaemia205,0162.3
13Oesophagus185,7502.1
14Kidney160,0391.8
15Melanoma of skin150,7911.7
16Brain, central nervous system139,7561.6
17Bladder132,4141.5
18Lip, oral cavity113,5021.3
19Multiple myeloma77,7910.9
20Gallbladder74,8870.9
21Vulva45,2400.5
22Nasopharynx36,9830.4
23Hodgkin lymphoma34,1060.4
24Larynx24,3500.3
25Salivary glands23,8890.3
26Oropharynx19,3670.2
27Vagina17,9080.2
28Hypopharynx14,0000.2
29Kaposi sarcoma10,8570.1
30Mesothelioma9,3100.1

*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

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.