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*.
Mortality and Survival
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
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%*.
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