Leukaemia (all subtypes combined) mortality statistics

Deaths

Deaths from leukaemia, 2017-2019, UK.

Proportion of all deaths

Percentage leukaemia contributes to total cancer deaths, 2017-2019, UK

Age

Peak mortality rate for leukaemia, 2017-2019, UK

Trend over time

Leukaemia mortality rates have changed differently for each sex since the early 1970s, UK

 

Leukaemia is the 12th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 3% of all cancer deaths (2017-2019).[1-4]

In females in the UK, leukaemia is the 12th most common cause of cancer death (3% of all female cancer deaths). In males in the UK, it is the 12th most common cause of cancer death (3% of all male cancer deaths).

41% of leukaemia deaths in the UK are in females, and 59% are in males (2017-2019).

Leukaemia mortality rates (European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) rates) in the UK are significantly lower in females than in males (2017-2019).

Leukaemia mortality rates (European age-standardised Open a glossary item (AS) rates) for persons are significantly lower than the UK average in Northern Ireland, and similar to the UK average in all other UK constituent countries.

For leukaemia, mortality differences between countries largely reflect differences in incidence.

Leukaemia (C91-C95), Annual Average Number of Deaths, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, UK, 2017-2019

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Female Deaths 1,669 155 98 48 1,970
Crude Rate 5.9 5.6 6.2 5.0 5.9
AS Rate 5.6 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.6
AS Rate - 95% LCL 5.5 4.7 4.7 4.4 5.4
AS Rate - 95% UCL 5.8 5.7 5.9 6.1 5.7
Male Deaths 2,420 223 157 60 2,860
Crude Rate 8.7 8.4 10.1 6.5 8.7
AS Rate 10.4 9.9 10.7 8.8 10.3
AS Rate - 95% LCL 10.1 9.1 9.7 7.5 10.1
AS Rate - 95% UCL 10.6 10.6 11.6 10.1 10.5
Persons Deaths 4,089 379 255 108 4,830
Crude Rate 7.3 7.0 8.1 5.7 7.3
AS Rate 7.7 7.2 7.7 6.7 7.6
AS Rate - 95% LCL 7.6 6.8 7.2 6.0 7.5
AS Rate - 95% UCL 7.8 7.6 8.3 7.5 7.8

95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

See also

Leukaemia incidence statistics by sex and UK region

Leukaemia (all subtypes combined) survival statistics

Cancer mortality statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. England and Wales data were accessed from Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age, November 2021: Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age.
  2. Scotland data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, November 2021. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp(link is external).
  3. Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, February 2022. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
  4. Population data were published by the Office for National statistics, accessed July 2020. The data can be found here: Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, provisional: mid-2019.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, C91-C95.

The term leukaemia describes four main subtypes, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), acute myeloid leukaemia (CML) and chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), as well as a number of less common types. It is important to recognise the variation between these subtypes when interpreting statistics on leukaemia as a whole.

Last reviewed:

Leukaemia mortality is strongly related to age, with the highest mortality rates being in older people. In the UK in 2017-2019, on average each year around 6 in 10 deaths (59%) were in people aged 75 and over.[1-4] This largely reflects higher incidence and lower survival for leukaemia in older people.

Age-specific mortality rates rise steeply from around age 55-59. The highest rates are in the 90+ age group for both females and males. Mortality rates are significantly lower in females than males in a number of (mainly older) age groups. The gap is widest at age 05 to 09, when the age-specific mortality rate is 2.3 times lower in females than males.

Leukaemia (C91-C95), Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, UK, 2017-2019

See also

Leukaemia incidence statistics by age

Leukaemia survival statistics by age

Cancer mortality statistics by age for all cancers

References

  1. England and Wales data were accessed from Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age, November 2021: Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age.
  2. Scotland data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, November 2021. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp(link is external).
  3. Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, February 2022. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
  4. Population data were published by the Office for National statistics, accessed July 2020. The data can be found here: Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, provisional: mid-2019.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C91-C95.

The term leukaemia describes four main subtypes, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), acute myeloid leukaemia (CML) and chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), as well as a number of less common types. It is important to recognise the variation between these subtypes when interpreting statistics on leukaemia as a whole.

Last reviewed:

Leukaemia age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item rates for females and males combined remained stable in the UK between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.[1-4] The change varied markedly between sexes.

For females, leukaemia AS mortality rates in the UK decreased by 12% between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019. For males, leukaemia AS mortality rates in the UK remained stable between 1971-1973 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), leukaemia AS mortality rates for females and males combined decreased by 7%. In females AS mortality rates decreased by 9%, and in males rates decreased by 7%.

Leukaemia (C91-C95), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, UK, 1971-2019

For most cancer types, mortality trends largely reflect incidence and survival trends. For example, rising mortality may reflect rising incidence and stable survival, while falling mortality may reflect rising incidence and rising survival.

Leukaemia mortality rates have decreased overall in some broad age groups in females and males combined in the UK since the early 1970s, but have increased in others.[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have decreased by 76% (though the absolute change is very small as rates are overall low in this age group), in 25-49s have decreased by 64%, in 50-59s have decreased by 55%, in 60-69s have decreased by 24%, in 70-79s have increased by 10% and in 80+s have increased by 73%.

Leukaemia (C91-C95), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, By Age, UK, 1971-2019

See also

Leukaemia incidence trends over time

Leukaemia survival trends over time

References

  1. England and Wales data were accessed from Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age, November 2021: Nomis mortality statistics by underlying cause, sex and age.
  2. Scotland data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, November 2021. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/index.asp(link is external).
  3. Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, February 2022. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.
  4. Population data were published by the Office for National statistics, accessed July 2020. The data can be found here: Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, provisional: mid-2019.

See also

Data is for UK, 1971-2019, C91-C95.

The term leukaemia describes four main subtypes, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), acute myeloid leukaemia (CML) and chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), as well as a number of less common types. It is important to recognise the variation between these subtypes when interpreting statistics on leukaemia as a whole.

Cancers in children and young people (aged 0-24) are best classified using a different system to cancers in adults, so the figures presented here may not correspond with those elsewhere.

Last reviewed:

It is projected that the average number of deaths from leukaemia in the UK every year will rise from around 4,800 deaths in 2023-2025 to around 5,300 deaths in 2038-2040.[1]

Leukaemia mortality rates are projected to fall by 14% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 6 deaths per 100,000 people on average each year by 2038-2040.[1] This includes a similar decrease for males and females.

For females, leukaemia European age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item mortality rates in the UK are projected to fall by 14% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 4 deaths per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1] For males, AS rates are projected to fall by 15% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 8 deaths per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1]

Leukaemia (C91-C95), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, by Sex, UK, 1975-2040

Download the data table (xlsx)

See also

Find out how these projections were calculated

Mortality trends over time for leukaemia

Projections of mortality for all cancers combined

Download the projections data table

References

Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, February 2023. Age-period-cohort modelling approach described here, using 2020-based population projections (Office for National Statistics) and observed cancer mortality data (1975-2018).

About this data

Data is for: UK, 1979-2014 (observed), 2015-2035 (projected), ICD-10 C91-C95

Projections are based on mortality data from 1975-2018 (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland); the above figure presents all UK data from 1975-2018 (observed) and 2019-2040 (projected). Number of deaths and age-standardised rates are presented as annual averages for each 3-year rolling period. ICD-10 codes C91-C95.

Projections are based on observed mortality rates and therefore implicitly include changes in cancer risk factors, diagnosis and treatment. Confidence intervals are not calculated for the projected figures. Projections are by their nature uncertain because unexpected events in future could change the trend. It is not sensible to calculate a boundary of uncertainty around these already uncertain point estimates. Changes are described as 'increase' or 'decrease' if there is any difference between the point estimates.

More on projections methodology

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

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Acknowledgements

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