About the Cancer web tool

This web tool presents data about primary cancer diagnoses and deaths registered where cancer was recorded as the underlying cause of death. The web tool allows you to examine summarised data through interactive visualisations and understand cancer registration and deaths in relation to demographics in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The web tool will be updated annually.

Pātiki and Waharua Kōpito patterns

Cancer web tool

This web tool presents data on national cancer registrations and cancer deaths from 2011 to 2020. It also includes a summary of the most common cancer registrations and deaths.

Key findings

Cancer registrations, 2020

In 2020, there were 27,072 new cancer registrations in Aotearoa New Zealand, with an overall age standardised rate of 338.1 registrations per 100,000 population.

The total number of registrations has been steadily increasing over the last 10 years, while the rate has stayed roughly the same.

Key findings among Māori and non-Māori

Māori tend to have higher cancer registration rates than non-Māori. In 2020, the rate of Māori cancer registrations was 1.3 times that of non-Māori.

 

New cancer registrations counts for Māori and non-Māori, 2020

Ethnicity  All sex Female Male
Māori 3,166 1,686 1,480
Non-Māori 23,906 10,917 12,989
All ethnic groups 27,072 12,603 14,469

 

New cancer registrations rates for Māori and non-Māori, 2020

Ethnicity  All sex Female Male
Māori 416.6 419.8 415.4
Non-Māori 328.7 301.5 360.9
All ethnic groups 338.1 313.2 367.3

 

Cancer deaths, 2020

Mortality data for 2020 is preliminary, therefore these key findings are subject to change with future releases of this publication as updated mortality data becomes available.

 

In 2020, there were 10,079 cancer deaths in Aotearoa New Zealand, with an overall age standardised death rate of 109.7 deaths per 100,000 population.

The rate of cancer deaths has been slowly declining over the last 10 years.

Key findings among Māori and non-Māori

Māori tend to have higher cancer death rates than non-Māori. In 2020, the rate of Māori cancer deaths was 1.6 times that of non-Māori.

Cancer death counts for Māori and non-Māori, 2020

Ethnicity  All sex Female Male
Māori 1,183 592 591
Non-Māori 8,896 4,090 4,806
All ethnic groups 10,079 4,682 5,397

 

Cancer death rates for Māori and non-Māori, 2020

Ethnicity  All sex Female Male
Māori 163.5 150.5 180.1
Non-Māori 103.8 91.0 119.6
All ethnic groups 109.7 96.9 125.4

 

Disclaimer

This web tool presents data to the latest year for which data is available for publication.

We have quality checked the collection, extraction, and reporting of the data presented here. However, errors can occur.

Contact us through the Data Services team at Te Whatu Ora if you have any concerns regarding any of the data or analyses presented here.

We make no warranty, expressed or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or use of the information or data in this tool.