Cyprus records lowest cancer-related deaths in EU

With 194 deaths for every 100,000 people, Cyprus recorded the least number of cancer-related deaths EU-wide in 2016.

According to data released on Tuesday by Eurostat, the EU statistical service, on the occasion of World Cancer Day marked annually on February 4, almost 1.2 million persons died from cancer in the European Union in 2016, making cancer responsible for over one quarter (26 per cent) of all EU deaths.

Across the EU, there were 257 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants due to cancer. With 345 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Hungary recorded the highest age-standardised death rate from cancer among EU Member States. High death rates from cancer were also recorded in Croatia (334), Slovakia (315) and Slovenia (309).

In contrast, low death rates from cancer were recorded in a number of Mediterranean and Nordic countries. The lowest rate was recorded in Cyprus with 194 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Finland (220), Malta (221), Sweden (229) and Spain (230).

In 2016, cancer was the cause of 656,100 (29 per cent) male deaths, a much higher figure than that for women, 511,600 (23 per cent) of which died of cancer.

Fatal cancers caused 288,900 deaths among people younger than 65 years in the EU, corresponding to 37 per cent of all deaths in this age group, but strikingly caused less than one quarter (878,800 deaths, 23 per cent) of all deaths among those aged 65 and above.

The main fatal cancers are lung cancer for men and breast cancer for women. Lung cancer claimed 239,000 lives in the EU in 2016, accounting for one fifth (20 per cent) of all deaths due to cancer.