Cancer in Norway
Last update
In 2025, 40,364 new cancer cases were registered, and for the first time, the number of new cancer cases in a single year exceeded 40,000.
Cancer is a widespread group of diseases that many are affected by, either directly or indirectly as relatives.
Before the age of 80, around four out of ten Norwegians have received at least one cancer diagnosis, and in the entire population there are now more than 350,000 people who have a history of cancer (359,257 people as of 31.12.2025). Figures are taken from Cancer in Norway 2025.
First time over 40,000
There were 40,364 new cancer cases in 2025, 19,030 among women and 21,334 among men.
This is about 1,500 more cases than those reported at the same time last year. A certain increase in the number of cancer cases is often normal, both because there are more people in Norway and because the population is getting older, and this increase is typically 1-2 percent compared to the previous year.
However, from 2024 to 2025, the increase in number of cases was 4 percent.
The cancer rate, meaning the number of cancer cases per 100,000 people, has decreased in recent years, for men throughout the last decade, but also for women the rate has become lower in recent years. For men, there has been a decline or leveling out for all the major cancer types in recent years, except for skin cancer.
The largest drop recently has been observed for a cancer type affecting women, namely cervical cancer, and in 2025 the Cancer Registry received reports of 259 cases of this cancer type. Such low numbers have never been registered in Norway, measured both in number of cases and cases per 100,000 women.
Prostate cancer is still the most common type of cancer overall in Norway, currently accounting for about 13 percent of all cancer cases. The most common types among men and women—prostate, breast, lung, and colorectal cancer, as well as melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer—constituted together 58 percent of all cancer cases in Norway.
Three times as many cases are diagnosed now as compared to 50 years ago, and there are still more men than women who get cancer.
More and more people survive their cancer
Today, more than three out of four survive their cancer for five years or longer.
Even though more and more people get cancer, increasing numbers are becoming completely healthy, and many of those who have cancer live longer and have higher quality of life than before. This is due to a combination of prevention, earlier diagnosis, and more, better and tailored treatments for the various cancer types.
For certain cancer types this has meant that almost everyone survives, and even those with advanced disease may have good survival prospects for some types.
For other types, however, there have been few treatment breakthroughs. For example, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and liver cancer are still among those with the lowest survival rates.
Over 350,000 Norwegians have or have had cancer
The fact that more recover from cancer, and that those who have cancer live longer with or after their disease, means that the number of "cancer survivors" has increased sharply.
At the start of 2026, there were 359,257 men and women in Norway who have had cancer or who are living with their cancer. That is over 100,000 more than ten years ago.
The background for these figures is complex, and is partly due to earlier cancer detection, at a stage where it can be treated more effectively, and partly to new and better treatment with personalized medicine.
11,703 died of cancer in 2025
Despite more and more surviving, a significant number still dies from cancer each year. 11,703 people in Norway died of cancer in 2025.
Lung, colon, rectal, prostate, and breast cancer among women accounted for about half of all cancer deaths in 2025.
Additionally, a significant number of deaths are caused by pancreatic cancer. Even though this is not among the most common types, with around 1,000 cases annually, it carries a poor prognosis and many die soon after diagnosis. In 2025, 1,002 people died of this cancer type, according to figures from Dødsårsaksregisteret.
Cancer affects mostly older people
Cancer mainly affects older people. Half of all who receive a cancer diagnosis are 71 years or older—and 90 percent are over 50.
In Norway, a significant part of the sharp increase over the last 50 years in number of cancer cases is due to the fact that there are more people, people live longer than before, and an increasing share of the population is older.
For some types, incidence has decreased. This applies, for example, to cervical cancer, where screening, diagnosis, and treatment of precursors has meant fewer cases. Over time, HPV vaccination is also expected to contribute to lower incidence of cervical cancer.
The identification of the connection between stomach cancer and the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is also a major cause of stomach ulcers, has led to new preventive treatments, and stomach cancer has gone from being a very common type to now affecting relatively few.
Lifestyle can also lead to cancer
Some cancer diseases can be caused by lifestyle. Tobacco use led to a sharp increase in the occurrence of lung cancer, before rates eventually began to decline—first among men, just after the turn of the millennium. This is a cancer type that can take a long time to develop, so even though many have stopped smoking and the number of smokers is going down, this disease still affects many with a long and heavy smoking history and will continue to do so in the coming years.
Factors such as diet and/or overweight, lack of physical activity, and alcohol also account for a significant number of cancer cases.
Fact pages about cancer
The following six cancer types made up the majority of all cases in 2025.
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer originates in the prostate, which sits just below the bladder in men. It is the most common cancer type in Norway.
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Norway.
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is one of the cancer types with the clearest risk factor—cigarette smoke.
Colon and rectal cancer
Norway is among the world leaders in incidence of bowel cancer.
Melanoma
The incidence of melanoma has increased sharply among men and women in Norway and internationally over several decades.
Cervical cancer
Cervical cancer is among the types we can prevent most effectively—through screening and HPV vaccination, and the incidence of this cancer type is decreasing.
Statistics
Cancer statistics for Norway
In the Cancer Registry’s annual report, Cancer in Norway, you can find information on incidence, mortality, prevalence, and survival for cancer in Norway. The latest figures are from 2025.
Cancer Registry’s statistics bank
The Cancer Registry’s statistics bank includes incidence (new cases) of cancer in Norway up to the latest available diagnosis year. The statistics can be divided by diagnosis groups, gender, age groups, periods, and geographic units.
Quality registries for cancer
The quality registries in the cancer area are intended to strengthen the quality of healthcare given to patient groups. The registries also aim to promote and provide the basis for research to develop new knowledge regarding causes, diagnosis, and disease progression in cancer, as well as treatment effects.
Cancer statistics for Nordic countries
In NORDCAN you can find information on incidence, mortality, prevalence, and survival in the Nordic countries.
Statistics for the world
The World Health Organization’s specialized agency, International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC), publishes estimates for incidence and mortality of the major cancer types in all countries worldwide.
What is cancer?
Benign tumors consist of normal cells and are not classified as cancer. They are usually limited by normal tissue and typically stop growing after some time, while malignant tumors will continue to grow and eventually can cause serious damage to nearby tissues and organs.
Cancer can also spread to other parts of the body when loose cancer cells are transported around the body in the blood and lymphatic system. These cells can settle in completely different places and cause spread of the cancer (metastases). Historically, cancer has been very difficult to fight if it has spread, but new treatments and medications are starting to change this picture for some types.
Recent research has shown that what is often perceived as a single cancer type should rather be classified as several diseases based on differences in occurrence, growth pattern, and prognosis. This applies, for example, to breast cancer.
Questions about cancer
The Cancer Registry is a research institution. Our specialists therefore do not have the opportunity to answer personal questions about diagnosis, assessment, treatment and follow-up from individual patients or their relatives.
Questions of this type should be directed to your GP, treating institution or The Cancer Society's Advice Service (kreftforeningen.no) tel: 21 49 49 21.