Cancer death rate in Britain down by almost a third since 1980s

Huge improvements in prevention, diagnosis and treatment have driven the fall, Cancer Research UK says

The rate of people dying from cancer in the UK has fallen by almost a third since the 1980s amid seismic progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, a report has found.

About 247 in every 100,000 people die from cancer each year, a 29% drop from the peak in 1989 of about 355 per 100,000, according to an analysis by Cancer Research UK (CRUK).

Cancer remains Britain’s biggest killer, causing about one in four deaths, and survival rates lag behind a number of European countries, including Romania and Poland.

However, in the past decade alone, the rate of people dying from cancer has fallen by 11%. The death rate for ovarian cancer dropped by 19% between 2012-2014 and 2022-2024, stomach cancer fell by 34% and lung cancer 22%. Bowel cancer dipped 6%, breast cancer 14%, cervical cancer 11% and leukaemia 9%. The oesophageal cancer death rate fell by 12%.