• All Cancers
• UK Cancer Mortality
• England and Wales Cancer Survival
• Childhood cancer
• 26 types of cancer
  • Bladder cancer
  • Bone cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain and CNS cancer
  • Breast Cancer
  • Cervical cancer
  • Hodgkin's lymphoma
  • Kidney cancer
  • Laryngeal cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer and Smoking
  • Multiple myeloma
  • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Oral cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Skin cancer
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
    • Incidence
    • Mortality
    • Survival
  • Uterine cancer
  • Vaginal Cancer
  • Vulva cancer
• Geographic variations
• Causes of cancer
• About CancerStats Reports
• FAQs

UK Thyroid Cancer incidence statistics

This page contains thyroid cancer incidence statistics for the UK with information by sex, by age, trends over time and geographic variation. The ICD code for thyroid cancer is ICD9 193, and ICD 10 C73.

Thyroid cancer incidence by sex

In 2005, 1,757 people were diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the UK. Thyroid cancer is within the top twenty most common cancers for UK females (number 18) , with 1,302 new cases diagnosed in 2005 (Table 1.1)1-4. This compares to 455 cases in males - giving a male:female ratio of 1:3.

Download this table(33.5KB)

Back to top ^

Thyroid cancer incidence by age

Figure 1.1 shows the age-specific cases and rates for thyroid cancer in the UK.Thyroid cancer is rare in children, while in adults the incidence rates rise steadily with age. Although the rates are highest in the over 75s, there is a substantial number of cases at younger adult age. Almost half of all cases occur in people aged less than 50 years.

Download this chart (37.5KB)

Back to top ^

Trends in thyroid cancer incidence

In Great Britain the age-standardised incidence rates have nearly doubled from 1.4 to 2.6 per 100,000 persons between 1975 and 2005.

Download this chart (35.5KB)

Back to top ^

Figure 1.3 shows the thyroid cancer incidence trend for the UK.

In the UK the age-standardised incidence rates have increased slightly from 1.9 to 2.6 per 100,000 population between 1996 and 2005. Male incidence rates have remained around 1.4 per 100,000 male population over this period. There has been a larger increase in female incidence rates, from 2.5 to 3.8 per 100,000 population. (Figure 1.2).

Download this chart (39.0KB)

Back to top ^

Geographic variation of thyroid cancer incidence

In 2002 there were 19,034 new cases of thyroid cancer diagnosed in the European Union (EU). The highest incidence rate was in Malta, where the female rate was more than seven times higher than the rate of the lowest ranking country, Bulgaria (12.6 versus 1.7 per 100,000 females) . More cases occur in females aged 15-44 than in any other age group. Age-standardised rates for the UK are lower than the EU average (Figure 1.4).5

Download this chart (20.0KB)

Back to top ^

The highest rates for thyroid cancer in the world occur in Northern America, where the female age-standardised rate is 8.1 per 100,000 females, compared with 1.4 per 100,000 females in Western Africa. Incidence is low in all parts of Africa. (Figure 1.5)5

Download this chart (23.0KB)

Back to top ^

References for thyroid cancer incidence

1. Office for National Statistics. Cancer Statistics registrations: Registrations of cancer diagnosed in 2005, England. Series MB1 no.36. 2008
2. Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit. Cancer registrations in Wales 2004.2008
3. ISD Online. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Survival data. 2008
4. Northern Ireland Cancer Registry. Cancer Registrations in Northern Ireland, 2005. 2008
5. IARC. GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide (2002 estimates). 2006

Back to top ^

Select the cancer you are interested in