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 2.4% per annum in the past decade. A total of 35 373 new cancer cases were diagnosed in Hong Kong in 2022, which shows a decrease of 3 089 cases or a drop of 8.0% compared to 2021. On average, 97 people were diagnosed with cancer each day.
2. A total of 17 239 cancers were newly diagnosed in males and 18 134 in females in 2022. The numbers decreased by 1 704 (or 9.0%) for males and by 1 385 (or 7.1%) for females compared to 2021. The crude annual incidence rates of cancer per 100 000 men and women were 514 and 454 respectively in 2022.
3. Women have surpassed men in the number of new cancer cases since 2020, with a ratio of 105 women per 100 men.
4. The five most frequently diagnosed cancers for both genders combined in 2022 were lung cancer (5 707 cases, 16.1%), breast cancer (5 208 cases, 14.7%), colorectal cancer (5 190 cases, 14.7%), prostate cancer (2 758 cases, 7.8%) and liver cancer (1 612 cases, 4.6%). These five leading cancers accounted for over half (57.9%) of all new cancer cases (Figure 1).

   Figure 1. Five leading diagnoses of new cancer cases, 2022

   
5. Cancer is primarily a disease of older people. In 2022, more than half of cancers occurred in people aged 65 or above, while only a mere 0.4% 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 2022, cancer claimed 14 717 lives, accounting for about one-fourth of all deaths in the local population. Among all cancers, lung cancer (3 782 deaths, 25.7%), colorectal cancer (2 270 deaths, 15.4%) and liver cancer (1 412 deaths, 9.6%) topped the list, making up 50.7% of all cancer deaths (Figure 2). Pancreatic cancer (920 deaths, 6.3%) and breast cancer (804 deaths, 5.5%) are the fourth and fifth most common causes of cancer deaths respectively.

   Figure 2. Five leading causes of registered cancer deaths, 2022

   
7. The majority of cancer patients are elderly. More than two-thirds of newly diagnosed cancers in 2022 and 84% of cancer deaths in 2022 were related to persons aged 60 or above. The median age at diagnosis of cancer in 2022 was 69 years for males and 64 years for females. The median age at death due to cancer was 72 years for males and 72 years for females in 2022.
8. A person's risk of developing or dying from cancer is age-dependent. Based on the statistics from 2022, 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 levelled off, with an increasing trend observed for women in the past ten years or so (Figure 3).
10. Both the age-standardised mortality rates for men and for women have been declining during the last three decades (Figure 3).