Cancer is one of the world’s leading causes of death, but its prevalence varies significantly from country to country.

In this infographic, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu shows age-standardized cancer incidence rates across 180+ countries, revealing striking contrasts between different regions. Understanding these differences sheds light on how lifestyles, environment, and healthcare reporting all contribute.

Data & Discussion

The data for this visualization comes from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). It presents age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) per 100,000 people, enabling a more fair comparison between regions with different population structures.

Country	Age-standardized Rate (ASR)	New cases (both sexes, 2022)
🇦🇺 Australia	463	212,332
🇳🇿 New Zealand	427	38,157
🇩🇰 Denmark	375	48,840
🇺🇸 U.S.	367	2,380,189
🇳🇴 Norway	358	40,305
🇨🇦 Canada	346	292,098
🇮🇪 Ireland	345	31,242
🇳🇱 Netherlands	341	132,319
🇫🇷 France	339	483,568
🇭🇺 Hungary	337	66,340
🇧🇪 Belgium	325	81,132
🇭🇷 Croatia	313	28,809
🇸🇪 Sweden	310	69,261
🇬🇧 UK	308	454,954
🇸🇮 Slovenia	305	14,402
🇵🇹 Portugal	295	69,567
🇨🇭 Switzerland	293	58,330
🇨🇾 Cyprus	292	6,198
🇱🇻 Latvia	289	11,458
🇱🇹 Lithuania	288	16,413
🇳🇨 New Caledonia	288	1,149
🇮🇹 Italy	285	436,242
🇸🇰 Slovakia	283	30,913
🇪🇪 Estonia	283	8,050
🇲🇹 Malta	283	2,855
🇨🇿 Czechia	281	65,676
🇺🇾 Uruguay	280	16,817
🇫🇮 Finland	277	37,660
🇷🇴 Romania	277	104,661
🇪🇸 Spain	275	278,729
🇩🇪 Germany	274	605,805
🇱🇺 Luxembourg	273	3,440
🇧🇾 Belarus	273	46,402
🇮🇸 Iceland	268	1,777
🇯🇵 Japan	267	1,005,157
🇵🇱 Poland	263	208,900
🇬🇷 Greece	259	65,703
🇦🇹 Austria	259	50,682
🇷🇸 Serbia	250	42,039
🇷🇺 Russia	248	635,560
🇮🇱 Israel	246	30,438
🇼🇸 Samoa	240	400
🇲🇪 Montenegro	238	2,739
🇲🇳 Mongolia	236	6,699
🇰🇷 South Korea	235	237,701
🇲🇩 Moldova	232	14,816
🇸🇬 Singapore	231	25,250
🇵🇫 French Polynesia	228	877
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	227	13,778
🇹🇷 Türkiye	226	240,013
🇧🇬 Bulgaria	222	32,812
🇨🇺 Cuba	221	49,688
🇧🇦 Bosnia Herzegovina	219	14,265
🇦🇷 Argentina	216	133,420
🇧🇷 Brazil	214	627,193
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	208	17,725
🇲🇰 North Macedonia	207	7,563
🇧🇧 Barbados	205	1,120
🇬🇫 French Guyana	204	589
🇿🇦 South Africa	203	111,321
🇨🇳 China	202	4,824,703
🇦🇲 Armenia	202	9,520
🇺🇦 Ukraine	200	155,239
🇯🇲 Jamaica	200	7,500
🇬🇪 Georgia	198	13,689
🇳🇦 Namibia	194	3,453
🇧🇸 Bahamas	193	955
🇵🇾 Paraguay	192	13,783
🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam	192	925
🇨🇱 Chile	189	59,876
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	189	12,190
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	187	3,931
🇵🇭 Philippines	185	188,976
🇻🇪 Venezuela	185	62,947
🇨🇷 Costa Rica	178	13,325
🇨🇴 Colombia	178	117,620
🇫🇯 Fiji	175	1,601
🇵🇪 Peru	174	72,827
🇸🇷 Suriname	170	1,119
🇱🇧 Lebanon	169	13,034
🇬🇺 Guam	167	412
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	167	20,171
🇱🇨 Saint Lucia	167	448
🇪🇬 Egypt	166	150,578
🇰🇵 North Korea	166	61,533
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	162	36,225
🇦🇱 Albania	161	8,019
🇲🇼 Malawi	160	19,846
🇿🇲 Zambia	160	15,296
🇵🇦 Panama	155	8,353
🇱🇦 Laos	155	9,101
🇹🇭 Thailand	154	183,541
🇺🇬 Uganda	154	35,968
🇪🇨 Ecuador	153	30,888
🇯🇴 Jordan	153	12,328
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	152	18,503
🇵🇸 Gaza Strip & West Bank	152	5,030
🇻🇳 Vietnam	151	180,480
🇲🇦 Morocco	150	63,609
🇰🇪 Kenya	149	44,726
🇮🇷 Iran	149	137,198
🇧🇴 Bolivia	144	17,579
🇬🇾 Guyana	143	1,225
🇲🇾 Malaysia	142	51,650
🇩🇿 Algeria	141	64,713
🇭🇹 Haiti	141	13,860
🇲🇽 Mexico	141	207,154
🇹🇿 Tanzania	140	44,931
🇲🇺 Mauritius	140	2,888
🇲🇱 Mali	140	15,151
🇸🇾 Syria	139	21,926
🇰🇭 Cambodia	138	19,795
🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire	137	21,352
🇮🇩 Indonesia	137	408,661
🇮🇶 Iraq	137	37,382
🇲🇲 Myanmar	136	77,603
🇹🇳 Tunisia	135	20,551
🇸🇿 Eswatini	135	1,108
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	135	684
🇦🇴 Angola	134	24,607
🇳🇮 Nicaragua	134	8,409
🇱🇾 Libya	132	8,171
🇲🇿 Mozambique	129	26,578
🇧🇮 Burundi	128	7,997
🇭🇳 Honduras	128	10,815
🇸🇻 El Salvador	127	9,799
🇨🇲 Cameroon	126	19,564
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	126	7,266
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	125	14,538
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	123	6,807
🇬🇹 Guatemala	122	17,801
🇸🇴 Somalia	121	10,681
🇬🇭 Ghana	120	27,385
🇹🇩 Chad	118	10,185
🇲🇬 Madagascar	117	21,297
🇬🇳 Guinea	116	8,777
🇱🇸 Lesotho	116	2,027
🇧🇼 Botswana	115	2,317
🇱🇷 Liberia	115	3,873
🇧🇿 Belize	115	409
🇬🇦 Gabon	114	1,875
🇸🇳 Senegal	114	11,841
🇧🇭 Bahrain	114	1,383
🇳🇬 Nigeria	114	127,763
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	113	35,900
🇰🇼 Kuwait	111	4,347
🇻🇺 Vanuatu	108	250
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	108	926
🇹🇬 Togo	108	5,491
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	107	33,243
🇰🇲 Comoros	107	619
🇦🇫 Afghanistan	106	24,275
🇵🇰 Pakistan	106	185,748
🇧🇩 Bangladesh	106	167,256
🇴🇲 Oman	105	4,045
🇲🇷 Mauritania	105	3,274
🇲🇻 Maldives	105	479
🇦🇪 UAE	105	5,526
🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	105	144
🇪🇹 Ethiopia	105	80,334
🇨🇩 DRC	103	52,612
🇧🇯 Benin	103	7,496
🇨🇫 Central African Republic	102	2,690
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	100	1,170
🇪🇷 Eritrea	100	2,463
🇸🇸 South Sudan	99	6,874
🇮🇳 India	99	1,413,316
🇸🇩 Sudan	96	28,586
🇹🇯 Tajikistan	92	6,467
🇩🇯 Djibouti	91	805
🇧🇹 Bhutan	88	638
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	87	28,113
🇨🇻 Cape Verde	87	435
🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	85	828
🇳🇪 Niger	84	11,593
🇷🇼 Rwanda	83	7,122
🇾🇪 Yemen	83	16,525
🇶🇦 Qatar	82	1,733
🇳🇵 Nepal	82	22,008
🇨🇬 Congo, Republic of	81	2,727
🇬🇲 Gambia	79	1,196
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	36	1,918

Australia and New Zealand Lead

Australia and New Zealand have the world’s highest cancer incidence rates, largely driven by these countries’ intense UV exposure which results in more cases of melanoma.

Both countries are in the Southern Hemisphere, where summer sun is especially strong due to higher solar angles and thinner ozone layers. The Earth is also slightly closer to the sun during this time, though this plays a minor role compared to ozone conditions and lifestyle factors such as spending more time outdoors.

Melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer that develops from pigment-producing cells called melanocytes and is more likely to spread than other skin cancers. Its primary cause is exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.

Lower Rates in Developing Countries

By contrast, many low- and middle-income countries have much lower reported cancer rates. For example, India (99), Sudan (96), and Niger (84) fall far below global leaders.

These lower figures may not always mean less cancer, but rather differences in detection and reporting.

Higher Rates in Wealthier Countries

There is good evidence that wealthier countries report higher cancer incidence rates, likely due to better detection and reporting methods.

For example, additional research from the WCRF has found a positive relationship between cancer rates and countries that score highly in the Human Development Index (HDI).

In short, developed countries generally report higher cancer rates, but this does not mean people in these countries are biologically more prone to cancer.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The $5.6T Pharmaceutical Industry in One Giant Chart on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.