Cancer continues to pose a substantial health burden across the world and in Australia.. We have dug into the latest cancer statistics for Australia to explore key insights into cancer incidence and prevalence.

The good news – Screening & Cancer treatments have had incredible impact

By the end of 2020, over 838,000 people who were diagnosed with cancer in the 10 years preceding were alive, representing an age-standardised rate of 3,352 people per 100,000 persons. This figure underscores the steady increase in cancer survivors in Australia, driven by earlier diagnoses, improved treatments, and longer survival rates.

As seen in Figure 1, cancer prevalence has been on a consistent rise over the last two decades. From 2000 to 2020, the number of cancer survivors has almost doubled, and the overall prevalence rate has increased accordingly.

10-year prevalence for persons, all ages, at the end of 2000 to 2020 by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

 

 65+ age groups are the most heavily impacted

Cancer impact heavily age dependent. with the 65-74 age group having the highest prevalence, followed closely by the 75-84 age group. Meanwhile, younger groups, particularly those aged 0-24, have the lowest prevalence rates.

Median age at diagnosis for all cancers incidence

Median age of diagnosis is going up

According to the AIHW report, 150,000 new cancer cases were diagnosed in 2020. The median age of diagnosis has increased to 69.0 years, up from 65.7 years in 1983. This reflects an aging population where cancer is more likely to occur later in life. Notably, projections for 2023 suggest this trend will continue, with both incidence and age at diagnosis gradually rising.

 

Geographic Distribution

While we haven’t gone into detailed breakdowns of cancer incidence and prevalence by geography in this article. Broadly the data indicates substantial variations across different regions. Prevalence rates in rural and remote areas may are significantly higher as a proportion, due to challenges in access to healthcare services including screening and prevention, delayed diagnoses, and different risk factor distributions. We do have more detailed geography breakdowns which we work on with our clients.

 

Cancer Incidence and Projections

The historical and projected data shows a steady increase in both the number of diagnosed cancer cases and the median age at diagnosis. The overall cancer incidence rate is estimated to rise in the coming years, reflecting both an aging population and improved diagnostic capabilities.

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