Overview of Cancer Statistics in Hong Kong

1. Cancer is one of the major non-communicable diseases ("NCD") in Hong Kong. The cancer incidence has been on a rising trend, increasing at an average rate of about 2.7% per annum in the past decade. A total of 37 953 new cancer cases were diagnosed in Hong Kong in 2023, which shows an increase of 2 580 cases or a rise of 7.3% compared to 2022. On average, 104 new cancer cases were diagnosed each day.
2. A total of 18 656 cancers were newly diagnosed in males and 19 297 in females in 2023. The numbers increased by 1 417 (or 8.2%) for males and by 1 163 (or 6.4%) for females compared to 2022. The crude annual incidence rates of cancer per 100 000 men and women were 543 and 471 respectively in 2023.
3. Women have surpassed men in the number of new cancer cases since 2020, with a ratio of 103 women to 100 men recorded in 2023.
4. The five most frequently diagnosed cancers for both genders combined in 2023 were lung cancer (6 111 cases, 16.1%), breast cancer (5 603 cases, 14.8%), colorectal cancer (5 467 cases, 14.4%), prostate cancer (3 031 cases, 8.0%) and liver cancer (1 700 cases, 4.5%). These five leading cancers accounted for over half (57.7%) of all new cancer cases (Figure 1).

   Figure 1. Five leading diagnoses of new cancer cases, 2023

   
5. Cancer is primarily a disease of older people. In 2023, more than half of cancers occurred in people aged 65 or above, while only a mere 0.5% of cancers was diagnosed in children and adolescents (i.e. aged 0-19 years).
6. Cancer is the leading cause of death in Hong Kong. In 2023, cancer claimed 14 867 lives, accounting for about one-fourth of all deaths in the local population. Among all cancers, lung cancer (3 880 deaths, 26.1%), colorectal cancer (2 266 deaths, 15.2%) and liver cancer (1 408 deaths, 9.5%) topped the list, making up 50.8% of all cancer deaths (Figure 2). Pancreatic cancer (918 deaths, 6.2%) and breast cancer (834 deaths, 5.6%) are the fourth and fifth most common causes of cancer deaths respectively.

   Figure 2. Five leading causes of registered cancer deaths, 2023

   
7. The majority of cancer patients are elderly. More than two-thirds of newly diagnosed cancers in 2023 and 84% of cancer deaths in 2023 were related to persons aged 60 or above. The median age at diagnosis of cancer in 2023 was 69 years for males and 64 years for females. The median age at death due to cancer was 73 years for both males and females in 2023.
8. A person's risk of developing or dying from cancer is age-dependent. Based on the statistics from 2023, about 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women will develop cancer before the age of 75.
9. While the number of new cancer cases has continued to increase largely as a result of a growing and ageing population, the age-standardised cancer incidence rate for men has been slowly decreasing, with an increasing trend observed for women over the past ten years or so (Figure 3).
10. Both the age-standardised mortality rates for men and for women have been declining over the last three decades (Figure 3).