Breast Cancer Statistics Globally

Breast cancer does not affect every population equally. Where you live, what you eat, your environmental exposures, and your inherited susceptibilities all shape your risk in measurable ways. The figures below paint a global picture as of the most recent comprehensive data.

• The highest incidence rates occur in Northern and Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America such as Uruguay and Argentina.

• Rates are low to intermediate in most southern and eastern European countries.

• Incidence is low throughout Africa, Asia, and most of Central and South America. The lowest rates are seen in Mongolia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Botswana, several Chinese populations, and parts of Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Mexico, and India.

• The highest genetic link to breast cancer is found in the Bahamas, where 23% of diagnosed women carry the BRCA1 gene. Ashkenazi Jewish women also carry a high genetic susceptibility.

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in both developing and developed countries, and the most frequent diagnosis among women in 140 of 184 countries.

• It is the leading cause of cancer death among women — 522,000 deaths in 2012 — and represents one in four of all cancers in women.

• Male breast cancer accounts for a far smaller share, but is rising steadily and remains under-discussed.

• In 2014, more than 232,340 (US) and 24,400 (Canada) new breast cancer cases were diagnosed.

• In Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore, the rate has more than doubled in a decade — from 10 per 100,000 to 23 per 100,000 women.

• From the 1980s onward, incidence rose roughly 2% per year in many developed nations.