Cancer survival rates have improved over 3 decades as cancer mortality rates decline, according to new data published today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). 

The report, Cancer data in Australia, explores cancer prevalence, survival, incidence, mortality and risk for over 100 different types of cancer to inform understanding of cancer in Australia and how counts and rates have been changing over time. The report also explores cancer data by ranking, age, state and territory, country of birth and region. 

The 5-year relative survival rate for cancer increased from 50% to 72% over about a 30-year period between 1987–1991 and 2017–2021. Five-year relative survival is the percentage of people diagnosed with a cancer who survived for at least 5 years after diagnosis, relative to people of the same age and sex in the population. 

The age-standardised cancer mortality rate has decreased from 257 to an estimated 194 deaths per 100,000 people between 2000 and 2025.  

‘The chances of survival for prostate and breast cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Australian males and females respectively, have been gradually improving over time,’ said AIHW spokesperson Justin Harvey.  

The 5-year relative survival rate for breast cancer among females has improved from 75% to 93% between 1987–1991 and 2017–2021. For prostate cancer, the 5-year relative survival rate for males has increased from 60% to 96% over the same period. 

Consistent with improving survival rates, age-standardised prostate cancer mortality rates have also decreased from the peak rate of 63 deaths to 33 deaths per 100,000 males between 1994 and 2025. For breast cancer, mortality rates were around 38 deaths per 100,000 females in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but are estimated to be around 22 deaths per 100,000 females in 2025. 

‘Close to 1 million Australians have been diagnosed with some form of cancer in the past decade, with an estimated 170,000 new cases in 2025,’ said Mr Harvey. 

‘Although nearly 9 in 10 people (88%) diagnosed with cancer are aged 50 or older, cancer incidence rates are increasing among younger age groups.’ 

The age-standardised rate of cancer incidence for people aged 30–39 has increased from 121 to an estimated 135 cases per 100,000 people between 2000 and 2025. This increase has been driven by higher rates of bowel cancer and thyroid cancer.  

For people aged 40–49, estimated cases rose from 280 to 313 cases per 100,000 people, driven by breast, prostate and kidney cancer as well as bowel and thyroid cancer. 

An estimated 20,000 cases of cancer will be diagnosed for people under the age of 50, around 5,500 cases for people in their 30s and 11,000 cases for those in their 40s.

‘Despite cancer becoming more common for people in their 30s and 40s, cancer mortality rates for these age groups have generally been decreasing,’ said Mr Harvey. 

For people in their 40s, cancer mortality rates have decreased from 60 to an estimated 37 deaths per 100,000 people between 2000 and 2025. They have also decreased for those in their 30s over the same period, from 18 to an estimated 11 deaths per 100,000 people.  

Breast cancer by tumour size 

‘The report also examines new data on cancer incidence and survival trends for breast cancer by tumour size and for melanoma of the skin by Breslow thickness,’ Mr Harvey said.  

Of the approximately 18,900 cases of breast cancer diagnosed in females for 2021, there were around 14,300 where the tumour size was known. Of these, almost 63% were less than 2cm, 31% were 2cm to 5cm and 5.9% were larger than 5cm. These sizes had a 100%, 95% and 84% survival rate, respectively, when examining 5-year relative survival in 2017–2021. 

Melanoma of the skin and Breslow thickness 

Age-standardised incidence rates for melanoma of the skin have increased from 54 to an estimated 63 cases per 100,000 people between 2000 and 2025.  

Breslow thickness is the measurement, in millimetres, of how deeply a melanoma has grown into the skin from the surface. A greater thickness is linked to lower survival rates. 

Of the approximately 15,000 cases of melanoma diagnosed in 2021, there were around 14,000 cases where the Breslow thickness was known. Of these, 68% were less than 1mm, 14% were 1mm to 2mm, 9.7% were 2mm to 4mm and 8.1% were larger than 4mm.  

The 5-year survival rate for thickness less than 1mm was about the same as for people without melanoma in 2017–2021. Whereas, for thickness greater than 4mm, the survival rate decreased to 66%. 

Future work 

Data on Indigenous status, remoteness areas, socio-economic status as well as geographical data by Primary Health Network, Local Government Area and Statistical Area 3 are also scheduled for release in 2026.