Cancer Stats

Where Does the US Rank?

There are an estimated 12.7 million cancer cases around the world every year, with this number expected to increase to 26 million by 2030.

For various reasons, different countries experience different cancer rates. Some countries are better at diagnosing and reporting cancer than others.

But a big reason for the difference in rates is that cancer risk is affected by lifestyle-things like what we eat, how much we move, how much body fat we carry, and whether or not we smoke.

In fact, scientists estimate that a third of the most common cancers in the US could be prevented by eating smart, moving more and staying lean.

This section shows how US cancer rates compare to the rest of the world.

World Cancer Statistics: Overall

This section lists the 50 countries with the highest overall cancer rate in the world.

Denmark has the highest rates in the world. The US comes in at #7, with 300 out of every 100,000 people in the US developing the disease every year.

World Cancer Statistics: Women

This section lists the 50 countries with the highest cancer rates in the world for women.

Denmark has the world’s highest cancer rates for women. The US has the 8th highest cancer rates for women. Every year 274 out of every 100,000 women in the US develop the disease.

World Cancer Statistics: Men

This section lists the 50 countries with the highest cancer rates in the world for men.

France and Australia have the world’s highest rates of cancer for men. The US comes in at #8, with 335 out of every 100,000 men in the US developing the disease every year.

All estimates and names of countries and which territories constitute counties are from GLOBOCAN version 1.2 December 2010, a World Health Organization project. All cancer rates are adjusted for age and are expressed per 100,000 people.

Ferlay J, Shin HR, Bray F, Forman D, Mathers C and Parkin DM. GLOBOCAN 2008, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC CancerBase No. 10 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2010.