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Causes of death and health conditions · Cancer

Cancer (all types) deaths in the UK

ONS figures give 149,304 deaths from Malignant neoplasms (ICD-10 C00 to C97) registered in England and Wales in 2025. That was 14 more than in 2024 (149,290). It is the highest yearly figure since 2001.

England and Wales, 2025
149,304
deaths registered · ONS
Age-standardised rate, 2025
238.0
per 100,000 people · ONS
Scotland, 2024
16,467
deaths registered · NRS
Northern Ireland, 2024
4,617
deaths registered · NISRA

Deaths each year in England and Wales

149,304134,873 2001 2025
Deaths registered in England and Wales from Malignant neoplasms, 2001 to 2025. Office for National Statistics.

Taking account of the population's size and age, the ONS age-standardised death rate was 238.0 per 100,000 people in 2025, 14.0% lower than in 2013 (276.8). For men it was 286.8 and for women 201.4.

Men accounted for 80,335 of the 2025 deaths and women for 68,969.

Cancer (all types), C00 to C97: deaths registered in England and Wales; rate per 100,000 from 2013.
YearAllMenWomenAge-standardised rate
2025149,30480,33568,969238.0
2024149,29079,97869,312242.5
2023149,02279,83569,187247.0
2022149,08379,54669,537251.4
2021144,74677,10667,640249.1
2020147,40778,91768,490257.4
2019147,41978,91768,502259.9
2018146,35778,42767,930263.2
2017146,26978,31667,953267.2
2016146,09377,77268,321271.6
2015144,33076,94567,385272.4
2014143,63876,38667,252274.6
2013141,90975,22766,682276.8
2012142,10775,07267,035–
2011139,95173,70966,242–
2010138,26472,73465,530–
2009137,42072,50964,911–
2008137,83172,09565,736–
2007136,80471,33165,473–
2006135,63571,02564,610–
2005134,89470,23064,664–
2004134,87370,57264,301–
2003136,03070,84465,186–
2002137,05171,22465,827–
2001136,23470,66165,573–

Age at death

Of the 149,304 deaths in 2025 with an age recorded, 58.9% were of people aged 75 or over; the largest number, 52,290, was in the 75 to 84 age group.

Deaths by age at death, England and Wales.
Age2025: all2025: men2025: women2001: all
Under 1519010486271
15 to 442,8291,2481,5813,802
45 to 6424,56612,68911,87728,725
65 to 7433,78018,74215,03836,445
75 to 8452,29028,78223,50844,959
85 and over35,64918,77016,87922,032

Scotland

National Records of Scotland recorded 16,467 deaths from this cause in 2024 (8,549 men, 7,918 women). In 2011 the figure was 15,457.

Deaths registered in Scotland. National Records of Scotland, vital events reference tables, table 6.01.
YearAllMenWomen
202416,4678,5497,918
202316,6368,6048,032
202216,3718,5207,851
202116,5648,5238,041
202016,3118,4267,885
201916,4788,4568,022
201816,2568,3607,896
201716,2078,4037,804
201615,9018,3037,598
201516,0938,3787,715
201415,8408,1467,694
201315,8588,1107,748
201215,8647,9787,886
201115,4578,0057,452

Northern Ireland

NISRA's Registrar General figures give 4,617 deaths from this cause registered in Northern Ireland in 2024, against 4,323 in 2014.

Deaths registered in Northern Ireland. NISRA, Registrar General Annual Report, table 6.4b.
YearAllMenWomen
20244,6172,4472,170
20234,6602,3882,272
20224,6372,4422,195
20214,5912,4072,184
20204,6162,4282,188
20194,4772,3442,133
20184,4482,3262,122
20174,4602,3562,104
20164,5382,3662,172
20154,3612,3552,006
20144,3232,2042,119

NHS figures for England

People on GP registers (England)

OHID's Fingertips tool gives “Cancer: QOF prevalence” as 3.8% in England for 2024/25, covering 2,424,102 patients. The first figure in the series, for 2009/10, was 1.41%.

PeriodPer centNumber
2024/253.8%2,424,102
2023/243.64%2,300,426
2022/233.49%2,176,254
2021/223.34%2,058,852
2020/213.21%1,948,913
2019/203.13%1,891,019
2018/192.98%1,768,475
2017/182.73%1,593,302
2016/172.58%1,495,711
2015/162.42%1,392,577
2014/152.26%1,281,811
2013/142.1%1,180,841
2012/131.93%1,082,039
2011/121.77%983,277
2010/111.59%876,485
2009/101.41%775,623

Source: OHID Fingertips, indicator 276 (NHS England) · data read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256 66d661477266a1eb…

Hospital admissions (England)

OHID's Fingertips tool gives “Number of emergency admissions with cancer” as 517.7 per 100,000 in England for 2024/25, covering 330,070 admissions. The first figure in the series, for 2009/10, was 527.1 per 100,000.

Periodper 100,000Number
2024/25517.7 per 100,000330,070
2023/24534.1 per 100,000337,619
2022/23502.0 per 100,000313,273
2021/22518.7 per 100,000319,566
2020/21459.5 per 100,000279,057
2019/20559.5 per 100,000338,077
2018/19553.7 per 100,000332,310
2017/18545.0 per 100,000321,881
2016/17547.2 per 100,000317,405
2015/16544.2 per 100,000313,053
2014/15543.8 per 100,000308,873
2013/14528.1 per 100,000297,326
2012/13529.3 per 100,000296,266
2011/12531.0 per 100,000294,586
2010/11528.5 per 100,000291,170
2009/10527.1 per 100,000288,640

Source: OHID Fingertips, indicator 91355 (NHS England, National Disease Registration Service) · data read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256 a57cc06a26a6ce98…

New cancer cases (England)

OHID's Fingertips tool gives “New cancer cases (Crude incidence rate)” as 556.9 per 100,000 in England for 2023/24, covering 352,015 new cases. The first figure in the series, for 2009/10, was 484.4 per 100,000.

Periodper 100,000Number
2023/24556.9 per 100,000352,015
2022/23547.8 per 100,000341,857
2021/22540.1 per 100,000332,765
2020/21456.1 per 100,000276,979
2019/20530.7 per 100,000320,711
2018/19528.8 per 100,000317,384
2017/18507.5 per 100,000299,709
2016/17520.8 per 100,000302,072
2015/16514.9 per 100,000296,151
2014/15523.0 per 100,000297,088
2013/14515.4 per 100,000290,133
2012/13507.5 per 100,000284,073
2011/12497.9 per 100,000276,244
2010/11491.2 per 100,000270,656
2009/10484.4 per 100,000265,226

Source: OHID Fingertips, indicator 91337 (NHS England, National Disease Registration Service) · data read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256 10f9250a16f7d01c…

How the figures are defined

Each death is counted once, under its underlying cause: the disease or injury that started the chain of events leading to death, as certified by a doctor or coroner and coded by the ONS to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). This page uses the ONS grouping “Malignant neoplasms”, codes C00 to C97. Other conditions mentioned on a death certificate are not counted here.

Registration dates, the deaths left out, the age-standardised rate and the ONS's coding changes are explained under how these figures are compiled.

Related answers

More in cancer

Sources and receipts

ONS mortality extracts for codes C00 to C97, with SHA-256 fingerprints; the ONS, NRS and NISRA workbooks are listed with the other sources.

No view is given on whether a figure is high or low. Report an error.