Bladder cancer statistics - Key Facts

• Bladder cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the UK.
• In 2006 more than 10,200 people were diagnosed with bladder cancer in the UK, that’s around 28 people every day.
• There are more than twice as many cases of bladder cancer in men than in women.
• In the UK, bladder cancer is the eleventh most common cancer in women, with almost 3,000 new cases each year.
• Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in UK men, with around 7,300 new cases each year.
• Eight in 10 cases of bladder cancer occur in people over the age of 65.
• Worldwide, an estimated 356,600 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed each year.

Read more in-depth UK bladder cancer incidence statistics.

• Bladder cancer survival rates have improved in the last 30 years. Around 66% of men and 57% of women with bladder cancer survive the disease for at least five years after diagnosis.
• Bladder cancer survival rates are higher for patients diagnosed at a younger age.

Read more in-depth UK bladder cancer survival statistics.

• Bladder cancer is the eighth most common cause of cancer death in the UK.
• Bladder cancer is responsible for the deaths of 4,900 people each year in the UK, that is around 95 people every week.
• Almost nine in ten deaths from bladder cancer are in people over the age of 65.
• The bladder cancer death rate in men has decreased by almost 30% in the last fifteen years.

Read more in-depth UK bladder cancer mortality statistics.

• Smoking cigarettes is the major preventable risk factor for bladder cancer.
• Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) during childhood may increase the risk of bladder cancer.
• The risk of getting bladder cancer increases with age.
• It is estimated that between 5 and 10% of male bladder cancer cases in Europe are caused by occupational exposure to certain chemicals - this proportion may be higher in countries with less regulated industrial processes.
• People with a first-degree relative who has been diagnosed with bladder cancer have a higher risk of developing the disease.
• High bladder cancer incidence rates in parts of Africa and the Middle East are caused by urinary schistomosiasis, a parasitic disease contracted from infected water which is endemic in these areas.

Read more in-depth bladder cancer risk factors.

*age-standardised to the European population 
** period estimates