Colorectal cancer is the 3rd most common cancer worldwide.
Colorectal (also known as bowel) cancer is the 3rd most common cancer worldwide. It is the 3rd most common cancer in men and the 2nd most common cancer in women.
There were more than 1.9 million new cases of colorectal cancer in 2020.
The 10 countries with the highest rates of colorectal cancer and the highest number of deaths from colorectal cancer in 2020 are shown in the tables below.
ASR = age-standardised rates. These are a summary measure of the rate of disease that a population would have if it had a standard age structure. Standardisation is necessary when comparing populations that differ with respect to age because age has a powerful influence on the risk of dying from cancer.
The following 3 tables show total global colorectal cancer incidence and rates in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Hungary had the highest overall rate of colorectal cancer in 2020, followed by Slovakia.
| Rank | Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
| World | 1,931,590 | 19.5 | |
| 1 | Hungary | 9,793 | 45.3 |
| 2 | Slovakia | 4,821 | 43.9 |
| 3 | Norway | 4,976 | 41.9 |
| 4 | The Netherlands | 17,015 | 41.0 |
| 5 | Denmark | 5,769 | 40.9 |
| 6 | Slovenia | 2,018 | 39.6 |
| 7 | Portugal | 10,501 | 39.4 |
| 8 | Japan | 148,505 | 38.5 |
| 9 | Latvia | 1,745 | 36.8 |
| 10 | Croatia | 3,706 | 36.3 |
| Rank (men) | Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
| World | 1,065,960 | 23.4 | |
| 1 | Hungary | 5,502 | 62.0 |
| 2 | Slovakia | 2,853 | 60.7 |
| 3 | Slovenia | 1,297 | 55.8 |
| 4 | Portugal | 6,418 | 55.2 |
| 5 | Croatia | 2,230 | 50.8 |
| 6 | Latvia | 854 | 48.8 |
| 7 | The Netherlands | 9,651 | 48.4 |
| 8 | Spain | 24,610 | 47.7 |
| 9 | Japan | 81,296 | 47.3 |
| 10 | Denmark | 3,155 | 47.1 |
| Rank (women) | Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
| World | 865,630 | 16.2 | |
| 1 | Norway | 2,423 | 38.7 |
| 2 | Denmark | 2,614 | 35.6 |
| 3 | The Netherlands | 7,364 | 34.3 |
| 4 | Hungary | 4,291 | 33.1 |
| 5 | Slovakia | 1,968 | 31.1 |
| 6 | Japan | 67,209 | 30.5 |
| 7 | Latvia | 891 | 30.1 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 1,603 | 29.7 |
| 9 | Australia | 7,550 | 29.2 |
| 10 | UK | 23,234 | 29.0 |
The following 3 tables show total global colorectal cancer mortality in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Slovakia had the highest overall mortality rate from colorectal cancer in 2020, followed by Hungary.
| Rank |
Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
| World | 935,173 | 9.0 | |
| 1 | Slovakia | 2,584 | 21.0 |
| 2 | Hungary | 4,880 | 20.2 |
| 3 | Croatia | 2,320 | 19.6 |
| 4 | Moldova | 1,187 | 17.6 |
| 5 | Serbia | 3,356 | 16.7 |
| 6 | Singapore | 1,808 | 16.2 |
| 7 | Poland | 15,088 | 16.1 |
| 8 | Barbados | 101 | 16.1 |
| 9 | Romania | 6,903 | 14.8 |
| 10 | Bulgaria | 2,768 | 14.7 |
| Rank (men) | Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
| World | 515,637 | 11.0 | |
| 1 | Slovakia | 1,450 | 29.6 |
| 2 | Hungary | 2,730 | 29.0 |
| 3 | Croatia | 1,362 | 28.2 |
| 4 | Moldova | 718 | 26.7 |
| 5 | Serbia | 2,114 | 23.7 |
| 6 | Poland | 8,644 | 22.8 |
| 7 | Samoa | 13 | 21.6 |
| 8 | Montenegro | 126 | 21.5 |
| 9 | Romania | 4,106 | 21.1 |
| 10 | Barbados | 56 | 20.9 |
| Rank (women) | Country | Number | ASR/100,000 |
| World | 419,536 | 7.2 | |
| 1 | Slovakia | 1,134 | 14.8 |
| 2 | Hungary | 2,150 | 14.0 |
| 3 | Croatia | 958 | 13.5 |
| 4 | Singapore | 760 | 12.8 |
| 5 | North Macedonia | 253 | 12.3 |
| 6 | Norway | 933 | 12.1 |
| 7 | Barbados | 45 | 11.9 |
| 8 | Cuba | 1,720 | 11.8 |
| 9 | Russia | 22,455 | 11.3 |
| 10 | Poland | 6,444 | 11.3 |
There is evidence that the following are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer: smoking and inflammatory bowel disease.
There is also strong evidence that:
There is some evidence that:
> Read more about what can cause and what can protect against colorectal cancer
The data on this page comes from the Global Cancer Observatory, owned by the World Health Organization/International Agency for Research on Cancer, and is used with permission. The cancer incidence figures and ASRs were compiled using the data available here (last accessed 23 March 2022). For queries about our cancer statistics please email the Research Interpretation team: ri@wcrf.org.
