US Nears Highest Cancer-Rate Around The World

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.