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UK cancer mortality statistics by age

This page present cancer mortality statistics by age at death.

The distribution of deaths from cancer, by age and sex, is shown in Figure 2.11-3. The majority of deaths from cancer occur in the elderly. More than three quarters of cancer deaths (76%) occur in people aged 65 years and over. The death rates rise with increasing age.

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Although there is a higher number of cancer deaths in the over 65s, cancer causes a greater proportion of deaths in younger people. Cancer caused a quarter of deaths in the over 65s in the UK in 2006, whereas cancer was responsible for more than a third (36%) of all deaths in the under 65s. In females under the age of 65 cancer causes 45% of deaths, while in males it is only 30%.

In people under the age of 75 years in the UK in 2006, deaths from cancer (76,063 deaths) continued to outnumber deaths from diseases of the circulatory system (ICD-10 codes I00-I99, which includes heart disease and stroke) and diseases of the respiratory system (ICD-10 J00-J99) combined (respectively 53,667 and 17,080 deaths; combined: 70,047).1-3

Reference for cancer mortality by age

1. Office for National Statistics, Mortality Statistics: Cause England & Wales, 2006. Vol. DH2 No.32. 2006: TSO.
2. GRO for Scotland Registrar General's Annual Report, 2006.
3. Northern Ireland Cancer Registry Cancer Mortality in Northern Ireland, 2006 2006

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