Breast Cancer Facts

Incidence

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, in women, and accounts for 1 in 4 annual cancer cases worldwide*.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the WHO Europe region with an estimated incidence of 576,300 in 2020*.
Incidence in the EU-27 in 2020 was estimated to be 355,500*.
1 in 11 women in the EU-27 will develop breast cancer before the age of 74*.
An estimated 21% of breast cancer cases in Europe occur in women when they are younger than 50 years old*.
35% occur at age 50–64 and the remaining cases in women above this age*.

Breast cancer therefore affects many women during their years dedicated to working and raising a family.

Mortality and Survival

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide accounting for 1 in 6 cancer deaths*. Breast cancer claims the lives of more European women than any other cancer*.

37% OTHER CANCER

16% BREAST

14% LUNG

13% COLORECTUM

7% PANCREAS

5% OVARY

5% STOMACH

3% CORPUS UTERI

Estimated number of women who died from breast cancer in 2020

WHO Europe region:
157,100

EU-27 member states:
91,826
European women aged 15 and older diagnosed with breast cancer between 2000 and 2007 had an estimated 5-year relative survival rate of 84%*.
Estimated numbers and age-standardised breast cancer incidence and mortality rates* in women per 100,000 in 2020*.
Country/Region Incidence Mortality
Numbers Age-standardised rate (W)* Numbers Age-standardised rate (W)*
EU-27 355,457 — 91,826 —
WHO Europe region** 576,337 69.7 157,111 14.8
Albania 936 48.3 260 11.4
Armenia 1190 49.6 504 19.2
Austria 5918 69.5 1685 13.8
Belarus 4745 52.0 1323 12.8
Belgium 11,734 113.2 2362 15.1
Bulgaria 4061 60.0 1533 16.7
Croatia 2894 69.3 832 14.6
Cyprus 761 82.0 202 17.8
Czech Republic 7723 72.2 1671 11.8
Denmark 5083 98.4 1121 14.9
Estonia 835 63.0 269 13.5
Finland 5228 92.4 860 12.1
France 58,083 99.1 14,183 15.6
Georgia 1942 57.5 910 23.5
Germany 69,697 82.2 20,579 16.0
Greece 7772 71.9 2333 14.5
Hungary 7565 77.3 2195 17.3
Iceland 226 80.9 49 13.6
Ireland 3433 89.9 745 15.3
Israel 4348 78.3 1194 16.7
Italy 55,133 87.0 12,633 13.4
Kazakhstan 4390 37.1 1654 13.6
Kyrgyzstan 770 24.3 251 8.1
Latvia 1263 63.6 433 17.0
Lithuania 1769 61.5 490 13.8
Luxembourg 497 99.8 91 13.6
Malta 403 89.5 69 11.5
Republic of Moldova 1492 42.6 695 18.3
The Netherlands 15,725 100.9 3283 15.3
North Macedonia 988 59.8 316 16.7
Norway 3670 83.1 633 10.7
Poland 24,644 68.7 8805 17.9
Portugal 7041 70.8 1864 12.7
Romania 12,085 65.8 3918 17.4
Russian Federation 75,052 54.9 23,130 14.6
Serbia 6724 86.8 2342 23.9
Slovakia 3078 59.5 1186 17.4
Slovenia 1410 69.2 405 13.4
Spain 34,088 77.5 6606 10.6
Sweden 7534 83.9 1473 12.0
Switzerland 7292 88.9 1506 13.4
Tajikistan 738 19.5 279 8.0
Turkey 24,175 46.6 7161 12.9
Ukraine 18,263 44.1 7032 12.9
United Kingdom 53,889 87.7 11,839 14.0
Uzbekistan 4454 26.4 2067 12.8

*Age-standardised rate (W): A rate is the number of new cases or deaths per 100,000 persons per year. An age-standardised rate is the rate that a population would have if it had a standard age structure. Standardization is necessary when comparing several populations that differ with respect to age because age has a powerful influence on the risk of cancer.

**WHO Europe region includes 53 countries. Incidence data include all countries except for Andorra, Monaco and San Marino.

Resources

  • European Commission. Breast cancer burden in EU-27. 
  • European Commission. European Cancer Information System.
  •  Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I, Bray F (2020). Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Today. Lyon, France: International Agency for International Agency for Research on Cancer. Latest global cancer data: Cancer burden rises to 19.3 million new cases and 10.0 million cancer deaths in 2020. Press release 292. 15 December 2020.
  • Research on Cancer. Statistics for Europe are based on WHO Europe region of 53 countries. Data for Andorra, Monaco and San Marino are not included