GBD 2023 Cancer Collaborators. Lancet 2025; 406: 1565–86
Cancer is a leading cause of death globally. To inform global cancer-control efforts, we used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2023 framework to generate and analyze estimates of cancer burden for 47 cancer types or groupings by age, sex, and 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2023. In 2023, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers, there were 18·5 million incident cases of cancer and 10·4 million deaths, contributing to 271 million DALYs globally. Of these, 57·9% of incident cases and 65·8% of cancer deaths occurred in low-income to upper-middle-income countries based on World Bank income group classifications. Cancer was the second leading cause of deaths globally in 2023 after cardiovascular diseases. There were 4·33 million risk- attributable cancer deaths globally in 2023, comprising 41·7% of all cancer deaths. Risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 72·3% from 1990 to 2023, whereas overall global cancer deaths increased by 74·3% over the same period. The reference forecasts (the most likely future) estimate that in 2050 there will be 30·5 million cases and 18·6 million deaths from cancer globally, 60·7% and 74·5% increases from 2024, respectively. These forecasted increases in deaths are greater in low-income and middle-income countries (90·6%) compared with high-income countries (42·8%). Most of these increases are likely due to demographic changes, as age-standardized death rates are forecast to change by –5·6% between 2024 and 2050 globally. Between 2015 and 2030, the probability of dying due to cancer between the ages of 30 years and 70 years was forecasted to have a relative decrease of 6·5%. Cancer is a major contributor to global disease burden, with increasing numbers of cases and deaths forecasted up to 2050 and a disproportionate growth in burden in countries with scarce resources. The decline in age-standardized mortality rates from cancer is encouraging but insufficient to meet the SDG target set for 2030. Effectively and sustainably addressing cancer burden globally will require comprehensive national and international efforts that consider health systems and context in the development and implementation of cancer-control strategies across the continuum of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
16 Mar, 2026