Global Trends in Colorectal Cancer

Data on colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and deaths were extracted from the GLOBOCAN database for 2020, and projections were made for 2040. Some of the key findings:

• In 2020, there were 1.9 million new cases of CRC and 930,000 deaths.
• By 2040, the burden is expected to increase to 3.2 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths.
• There are 10-fold variations in incidence among 185 countries.
• The highest incidence rates are in Europe and Australia/New Zealand, followed by Eastern Asia and North America. 
• At a national level, the incidence rate in males was highest in Hungary at 62 per 100,000 and lowest in Mozambique at 3.6 per 100,000. 
• For countries with a very high United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), the incidence rate in 2020 was 4 times higher than the rate in countries with a low HDI.