How common is cancer?

These statistics do not include rates of non-melanoma skin cancers (basal and squamous cell carcinomas).

For national statistics on a specific cancer type, see Cancer Information

For more cancer statistics in NSW, see Cancer Institute NSW

This information was last updated in March 2021.

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	1 in 2 people in NSW will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85.
	In 2020, an estimated 49,000 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in NSW.
	Men are more likely than women to be diagnosed with cancer (an estimated 26,306 males and 22,540 females in 2020).
	The most common cancers in NSW are prostate, breast, melanoma, lung and bowel . These cancer types make up nearly half of all cancers diagnosed.
	Cancer survival rates in NSW are increasing. In the early 1980s the cancer survival rate was less than 50%. This has risen to 67% which means that almost 7 in 10 people will survive for at least 5 years after a cancer diagnosis.