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Cancer mortality in Wales

Details:

Authors: Analysis Team, Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit

Published on: 15th July 2026

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Next update: To be announced (2027)

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Introduction

This publication reports on deaths registered between 2002 and 2025 with outputs presented by single and three-year rolling periods for men, women and persons for Wales, health boards, local authorities and area deprivation fifths.

Table of contents:

Main points

Cancer is still the leading cause of death in Wales. In 2025, there were 9,053 deaths from cancer, accounting for over a quarter of all deaths (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Number of cancer deaths compared to other causes of death in Wales in 2025

Mortality by broad cause group, count, persons, all ages, Wales, 2025

Produced by Public Health Wales, using Public Health Mortality (PHM) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Horizontal bar chart showing the number of deaths by broad cause group in Wales in 2025. Cancer was the leading cause of death, accounting for 9,053 deaths, followed by circulatory diseases with 8,464 deaths. Respiratory diseases, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and diseases of the digestive system were among the next most common causes of death.

The number of cancer deaths was slowly rising for years before the pandemic, mainly due to an ageing population (Figure 2).

It is still too early to fully understand the impact of the pandemic. The number of annual cancer deaths stopped rising, with slightly fewer cancer deaths in 2025 than both 2024 and pre-pandemic levels (Figure 2). It is not yet clear if this will continue.

Figure 2: Trends in the number of cancer deaths of men, women and persons in Wales

Cancer mortality by sex, count, all cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), all ages, Wales, 2002-2025

Produced by Public Health Wales, using PHM from ONS

Line chart showing the number of cancer deaths in Wales from 2002 to 2025 for men, women and persons. The number of cancer deaths generally increased over the period, with more deaths among men than women throughout. Following a gradual increase before the pandemic, the number of deaths has remained broadly stable in recent years.

But when we take changes in population size, age and sex structure into account, cancer death rates had fallen in men and stayed about the same in women, particularly following the pandemic (Figure 3).

Cancer mortality by sex, European age-standardised rate, all cancers excluding NMSC, all ages, Wales, 2002-2025

Produced by Public Health Wales, using PHM and Mid-Year Estimates (MYE) from ONS

Line chart showing European age-standardised cancer mortality rates in Wales from 2002 to 2025 for men, women and persons. Cancer mortality rates generally decreased over the period for all groups, with rates remaining higher in men than in women throughout. The decline was most noticeable among men, while rates for women changed more gradually.

Nearly 6 in 10 (59%) cancer deaths were in people aged 75 and over in 2025. This increased from nearly 5 in 10 (48%) in 2002, reflecting the ageing population (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Trends in the number of cancer deaths in different age groups in Wales

Cancer mortality by age group, count, all cancers excluding NMSC, persons, Wales, 2002-2025

Produced by Public Health Wales, using PHM from ONS

Line chart showing the number of cancer deaths in Wales from 2002 to 2025 by age group. People aged 75 years and over accounted for the highest number of cancer deaths throughout the period and showed the largest increase over time. Deaths in younger age groups remained lower and changed relatively little in comparison.

People in the most deprived areas have higher death rates from cancer. In 2025, death rates were one-and-a-half times (54%) higher than in the least deprived areas. This gap has shown little change over time (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Trends in cancer death rates in Wales by area deprivation fifth

Cancer mortality by deprivation fifth, European age-standardised rate, all cancers excluding NMSC, persons, all ages, Wales, 2002-2025

Produced by Public Health Wales, using PHM and MYE from ONS and Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) from Welsh Government

Line chart showing European age-standardised cancer mortality rates in Wales from 2002 to 2025 for the most and least deprived areas. Mortality rates were consistently higher in the most deprived areas throughout the period. Rates declined over time in both groups, but the gap between the most and least deprived areas remained broadly unchanged.

Four main types of cancer – lung, bowel, prostate and female breast – caused 4 in every 10 (44%) cancer deaths. Most deaths for each type occurred in people aged 75 and over. Lung cancer is the main cause, responsible for 2 in every 10 (20%) cancer deaths. Next was bowel (colorectal) cancer (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Number of cancer deaths in Wales by top cancer types in 2025

Cancer mortality by cancer type, count, persons, all ages, Wales, 2025

Produced by Public Health Wales, using PHM from ONS

Horizontal bar chart showing the number of deaths from the four most common cancer types in Wales in 2025. Lung cancer accounted for the highest number of cancer deaths with 1,770 deaths, followed by bowel cancer with 1,061 deaths, prostate cancer with 633 deaths and female breast cancer with 559 deaths.

Data tables

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Technical information

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Cancer mortality in Wales, press release, 2002-2025Download

Pre-release list

Dr Tracey Cooper, NHS Wales Cancer Board Chair and Chief Executive of Public Health Wales

Professor Tom Crosby, National Cancer Clinical Director for Wales

Anthony Davies, Senior Policy Manager, Value Based Healthcare Policy Team, Welsh Government

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