Cancer Registration Statistics, England, 2023

This publication provides cancer mortality by ICD-10 site. We compare 2023 counts and rates with 2013 counts and rates to show how cancer mortality has changed over time. 

The number of people dying from cancer has increased over time. For males, the number of deaths increased from 70,614 in 2013 to 74,098 in 2023. For females, the number of deaths increased from 62,215 in 2013 to 64,480 in 2023.

Despite the increase in number of deaths, the age-standardised rate of mortality from cancer has decreased for both males and females. 

For males, the rate fell from 338 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013 to 294 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023. Similarly, for females, the rate fell from 231 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013 to 208 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023. 

Table 1 shows the 3 most common cancer groups for males and females in England with their age-standardised cancer incidence and mortality rates per 100,000 people in 2013 and 2023.

For females, the incidence rates per 100,000 people for the 3 most common cancer groups – breast, lung, and bowel cancer – increased or remained the same between 2013 and 2023 whereas the mortality rates fell over the same period.

For males, the incidence rate per 100,000 people for the most common cancer group, prostate cancer, increased and the incidence rates for lung and bowel cancer decreased between 2013 and 2023. During the same period, the mortality rates fell for all 3 cancer groups.