Global Cancer Rates In People Under 50

Map created Map: Alexa Lardieri Source: WHOThe map above shows the number of age standardized rates of all types of cancer per 100,000 people under 50 by country. The Data comes from the World Health Organization (WHO) and can be seen below:

It should be noted that these are age standardized rates, which are useful for international comparisons due to different age structures of countries.

However, they don’t reflect the total number of cases per country.

I’ve included both the age standardized rates used in the map above and the crude (total) rates below. You can also see a more detailed breakdown of the differences at the end of this article.

Age Standardized Rates of Cancer By Country For People Under 50

Population	ASR (World) per 100 000
Australia	135.13
New Zealand	119.1
Portugal	89.31
Cyprus	88.58
Denmark	87.2
United States of America	87.2
France (metropolitan)	87.18
Hungary	86.6
Malawi	83.45
The Netherlands	81.42
Norway	81.33
Belgium	79.78
Italy	79.65
Croatia	79.03
Korea, Republic of	77.66
Canada	76.94
Malta	75.89
Sweden	75.12
Slovenia	74.77
Belarus	73.08
Ireland	72.81
Fiji	72.42
Latvia	72.03
Romania	71.99
Lithuania	71.42
Uruguay	71.17
Mozambique	70.59
United Kingdom	70.5
Spain	70.03
Austria	69.67
Russian Federation	68.68
Israel	67.81
Puerto Rico	67.42
Namibia	67.4
Finland	66.92
Türkiye	66.09
Singapore	65.98
Czechia	65.28
Switzerland	65.28
Eswatini	64.16
China	64.14
Luxembourg	63.32
Bosnia Herzegovina	63.01
New Caledonia	62.85
Estonia	62.44
Argentina	62.22
Greece	61.93
Moldova	61.69
France, Guadeloupe	61.44
Japan	61.19
Iceland	60.48
Serbia	59.49
Zimbabwe	59.01
Trinidad and Tobago	58.59
Paraguay	58.48
Slovakia	57.92
Germany	57.71
Bulgaria	57.44
Solomon Islands	57.29
Ukraine	56.89
Poland	56.79
Jamaica	56.73
Uganda	56.44
Barbados	56.1
Papua New Guinea	55.33
Brazil	54.85
Jordan	54.71
Zambia	54.61
South Africa	54.6
Egypt	54.28
Samoa	54.14
Brunei Darussalam	54.1
Montenegro	53.97
Philippines	53.09
Peru	52.45
Lao People's Democratic Republic	52.24
Dominican Republic	52.17
Lebanon	52.11
Albania	51.66
Indonesia	51.66
Morocco	51.36
Algeria	51.03
France, La Réunion	50.88
Colombia	50.81
Georgia	50.78
Botswana	50.73
Mali	50.36
Azerbaijan	49.65
Suriname	49.59
Costa Rica	49.4
Venezuela	49.29
Cuba	48.95
Ghana	48.78
French Polynesia	48.49
Bahamas	48.37
Bolivia	48.24
Thailand	48.09
Mexico	47.78
Angola	47.75
Chad	47.53
North Macedonia	47.49
Malaysia	47.46
Panama	46.38
Myanmar	45.66
France, Martinique	45.48
Ecuador	45.26
Chile	44.75
Iraq	44.74
Viet Nam	44.69
Guinea	44.54
Honduras	44.26
Côte d'Ivoire	44.26
Tunisia	43.5
Cambodia	43.34
Vanuatu	43.11
Cameroon	42.9
Ethiopia	42.78
Gaza Strip and West Bank	42.73
Iran, Islamic Republic of	42.62
Liberia	42.48
Mongolia	42.44
Korea, Democratic People Republic of	42.32
Gabon	42.21
Madagascar	42.15
Saint Lucia	42.02
Senegal	41.95
Equatorial Guinea	41.74
Burkina Faso	41.55
El Salvador	41.11
Lesotho	40.65
Armenia	40.52
Turkmenistan	40.35
Pakistan	40.3
Syrian Arab Republic	40.18
Somalia	40.15
The Republic of the Gambia	40.06
Niger	39.56
Burundi	39.5
Haiti	39.49
Mauritius	39.45
Uzbekistan	39.37
French Guyana	39.24
Kazakhstan	38.73
Nicaragua	38.56
Guyana	38.07
Afghanistan	37.87
Yemen	36.82
Libya	36.77
Eritrea	36.64
Mauritania	36.56
Comoros	36.47
Kenya	36.38
Bangladesh	35.5
Tanzania, United Republic of	34.48
Togo	34.28
Guinea-Bissau	34.27
Oman	34.22
Guam	33.83
Tajikistan	33.62
Kyrgyzstan	33.45
Maldives	33.26
Djibouti	33.02
Sudan	32.72
India	32.64
Guatemala	32.49
Central African Republic	32.48
Sri Lanka	32.06
Saudi Arabia	31.75
South Sudan	30.8
Congo, Democratic Republic of	29.72
Rwanda	28.45
Timor-Leste	28.38
Sao Tome and Principe	28.11
Nigeria	27.71
Belize	27.43
Benin	26.6
Nepal	26.43
Kuwait	25.68
Cape Verde	24.46
Bahrain	22.32
Congo, Republic of	22.26
Qatar	22.26
Bhutan	20.09
Sierra Leone	16.62
United Arab Emirates	15.28

Crude Rates of Cancer By Country For People Under 50

Population	Crude rate per 100 000
Australia	172.07
New Zealand	145.3
Portugal	132.49
Hungary	127.7
Korea, Republic of	119.43
Cyprus	118.31
Italy	116.54
France (metropolitan)	112.02
Denmark	111.48
Malta	110.18
Croatia	109.29
Slovenia	107.67
Spain	106.6
United States of America	106.44
Romania	106
Norway	105.59
The Netherlands	105.08
Belgium	104.31
Canada	100.73
Belarus	100.27
Latvia	99.85
Czechia	98.27
Singapore	97.86
Lithuania	97.72
Ireland	96.99
Sweden	95.08
Russian Federation	93.88
Austria	93.68
Japan	93.28
Puerto Rico	92.17
Greece	91.85
Bosnia Herzegovina	90.52
United Kingdom	89.94
Luxembourg	89.51
China	89.27
Switzerland	88.21
Bulgaria	86.78
Uruguay	86.21
Estonia	86.12
Finland	85.8
Slovakia	85.71
Moldova	83.95
Ukraine	82.86
Serbia	81.68
Poland	79.07
Germany	78.7
New Caledonia	78.48
Türkiye	76.31
Fiji	76.05
Barbados	75.68
Iceland	74.89
Trinidad and Tobago	74.19
France, Guadeloupe	73.92
Israel	71.77
Argentina	69.98
Brunei Darussalam	69.68
Montenegro	68.73
Brazil	66.85
North Macedonia	66.56
Thailand	65.35
Malawi	64.78
Jamaica	64.02
Cuba	63.89
Georgia	62.89
French Polynesia	61.81
Albania	59.63
France, Martinique	59.62
France, La Réunion	59.21
Peru	59.07
Namibia	58.94
Costa Rica	58.85
Indonesia	58.62
Paraguay	58.62
Bahamas	58.33
South Africa	58.26
Lebanon	58.23
Colombia	58.18
Azerbaijan	56.9
Saint Lucia	56.18
Morocco	55.49
Algeria	55.28
Dominican Republic	55.03
Eswatini	54.45
Chile	54.06
Mozambique	53.93
Malaysia	53.42
Suriname	53.37
Venezuela	53.21
Viet Nam	52.79
Jordan	52.73
Korea, Democratic People Republic of	52.61
Philippines	52.11
Mexico	52
Mauritius	51.7
Egypt	51.53
Iran, Islamic Republic of	51.2
Tunisia	51.16
Myanmar	50.86
Panama	50.7
Botswana	50.5
Lao People's Democratic Republic	49.88
Papua New Guinea	49.5
Solomon Islands	48.08
Ecuador	47.06
Bolivia	46.65
Armenia	46.63
Zimbabwe	45.89
Mongolia	45.23
Samoa	45.21
Ghana	42.95
Libya	42.81
Honduras	42.68
Kazakhstan	42.16
El Salvador	42.06
Maldives	41.84
Uzbekistan	41.55
Turkmenistan	41.52
Syrian Arab Republic	41
Zambia	40.99
Cambodia	40.74
Oman	40.39
Saudi Arabia	40.27
Uganda	39.81
Nicaragua	39.61
Iraq	39.33
French Guyana	39.1
Gabon	38.82
Bangladesh	38.7
Lesotho	38.36
Guyana	37.72
Guam	37.26
Haiti	37.23
Sri Lanka	37.03
Angola	36.9
Kuwait	36.37
Vanuatu	36.32
Gaza Strip and West Bank	36.26
Pakistan	35.96
Equatorial Guinea	35.56
India	35.16
Djibouti	34.93
Mali	34.93
Madagascar	34.52
Côte d'Ivoire	33.66
Liberia	33.62
Ethiopia	33.61
Cameroon	32.78
Kyrgyzstan	32.43
Senegal	31.72
Comoros	30.91
Yemen	30.9
Burkina Faso	30.71
Mauritania	30.33
Chad	30.02
Tajikistan	30.02
Kenya	29.94
Guinea	29.8
Qatar	29.64
The Republic of the Gambia	29.62
Guatemala	29.54
Afghanistan	29.25
Eritrea	28.88
Burundi	28.24
Togo	27.97
Bahrain	27.06
Belize	26.99
Somalia	26.81
Cape Verde	26.52
Guinea-Bissau	26.41
Sudan	25.92
Tanzania, United Republic of	25.7
Niger	25.67
Nepal	25.24
Rwanda	23.47
South Sudan	23.39
Timor-Leste	22.55
Central African Republic	22.2
Bhutan	21.18
Congo, Democratic Republic of	21.01
Sao Tome and Principe	20.73
Nigeria	20.55
Benin	20.11
United Arab Emirates	18.18
Congo, Republic of	17.95
Sierra Leone	13.52

Why are cancer rates for under 50s increasing?

The increase in cancer rates among people under 50 is driven by several interconnected factors:

Lifestyle Changes: Factors like poor diet, consumption of ultra-processed foods, obesity, and sedentary lifestyles are strongly linked to rising cancer risks. These behaviors lead to chronic inflammation, hormonal imbalances, and alterations in the gut microbiome, which are all associated with cancer development.
Environmental and Early-Life Exposures: The “birth cohort effect” suggests that each newer generation faces greater early-life exposures to harmful factors (e.g., processed foods, pollution), leading to higher cancer risks later in life. This trend is evident across multiple types of cancer..
Healthcare and Screening: While improved screening plays a role in detecting more cases earlier, experts agree that it doesn’t fully explain the surge in cases among younger adults. The rise is primarily attributed to lifestyle and environmental changes.

For more in-depth details, you can explore:

Age-Standardized rates Vs Crude Rates

Age-standardized rates and crude rates are both important concepts in epidemiology and public health statistics, especially when comparing health outcomes like disease incidence, mortality, or prevalence across populations. Here’s a breakdown of the differences and when each is used:

1. Crude Rates:

Definition: Crude rates represent the total number of events (e.g., deaths, new disease cases) occurring in a population during a specific time period, divided by the total population. The result is often expressed per 1,000 or 100,000 people.
Calculation: Crude Rate = (Total Population/Number of Events) x 100,0000
Example: If there are 500 deaths in a population of 100,000 people, the crude death rate would be: $= 500 deaths per 100,000 people$
Limitations: Crude rates do not account for differences in the age distribution of populations. Therefore, when comparing two populations with different age structures, crude rates might give misleading impressions. For example, an older population will naturally have higher crude death rates, even if the underlying risk of death is the same as in a younger population.

2. Age-Standardized Rates:

Definition: Age-standardized rates (also known as age-adjusted rates) adjust for differences in age distribution between populations. This allows for fairer comparisons by eliminating the effect of age as a confounding factor.
Calculation: Age-standardization typically involves applying a common age distribution (a “standard population”) to both groups being compared. The rate is then adjusted based on how the age-specific rates in the actual population compare to those in the standard population.There are two main methods for age-standardization:
- Direct Standardization: Uses age-specific rates and applies them to a standard population.
- Indirect Standardization: Often used when age-specific rates are not available, comparing the observed number of events to the expected number if the population had the standard age distribution.
Example: If we want to compare cancer rates between two countries with different age distributions, age-standardized rates would be used to eliminate age as a confounding variable.
Benefits: Age-standardized rates allow for comparisons across populations or over time, even when those populations have different age structures.

Key Differences:

Aspect	Crude Rate	Age-Standardized Rate
Definition	Total events per population	Adjusted rate that accounts for age distribution
Effect of Age	Affected by age distribution	Controls for age differences
Use Cases	General, straightforward comparisons	Comparisons across populations with different age structures
Calculation Complexity	Simple	Requires age-specific data and a standard population

When to Use Each:

Crude rates are useful for understanding the overall burden of a disease or event in a population but can be misleading when comparing populations with different age structures.
Age-standardized rates are better for comparing health outcomes between different populations (e.g., countries, regions, or time periods) where age structures differ, as they provide a more accurate reflection of the differences in risk or outcomes.

In summary, crude rates offer a snapshot of the total event burden in a population, while age-standardized rates provide a more nuanced and comparable measure that accounts for age differences.