As of 2023, the number of people living with cancer in Korea was 2,732,906, or about 1 in 19 people. Of these, 62.1% survived more than five years after a cancer diagnosis.
As the country enters an aged society, the cancer burden is rising quickly. Among people 65 and older, there were 145,452 cancer patients, accounting for 50.4% of all new cancer cases.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Central Cancer Registry (National Cancer Center) on the 20th released the 2023 National Cancer Registry Statistics. Compiled under the Cancer Control Act using medical records from hospitals nationwide, the national cancer registry provides official statistics on cancer incidence, survival, and prevalence and serves as a basis for national cancer control policy and international comparisons.
According to the statistics, there were 288,613 new cancer cases in 2023, an increase of 7,296 (2.5%) from a year earlier. Men accounted for 151,126 and women 137,487. Compared with 1999, when 101,854 cases were first recorded, the number rose 2.8 times.
By contrast, the age-standardized incidence rate, which excludes population structure changes, was 522.9 per 100,000 people and has remained flat in recent years. This supports the view that the increase in new cancer cases stems from population aging. By sex, the rates were 587.0 for men and 488.9 for women.
The lifetime risk of developing cancer in Korea was estimated at 44.6% for men and 38.2% for women. That is about 1 in 2 for men and 1 in 3 for women.
By cancer type for all men and women combined, thyroid cancer was most common, followed by lung, colorectal, breast, stomach, and prostate cancers. In particular, due to aging, prostate cancer rose to No. 1 among men. Among women, breast cancer was most common.
Among those 65 and older, lung cancer was most common, followed by prostate, stomach, colorectal, and liver cancers. In older men, prostate and lung cancers were prominent, while in older women, colorectal and lung cancers accounted for a large share.
The share of cancers detected at an early stage continues to rise. In 2023, 51.8% of all cancers were diagnosed at the localized stage, up 6.2 percentage points from 2005, when the summary stage statistics began. Meanwhile, the share of patients found with distant metastasis fell from 21.3% to 18.8% over the same period. Early detection rates improved especially sharply for stomach, breast, and lung cancers included in the national screening program.
The survival gap by stage at diagnosis remained large. The five-year relative survival rate was 92.7% for cancers diagnosed at the localized stage, but only 27.8% for those diagnosed with distant metastasis.
Cancer survival also showed a clear overall increase. The five-year relative survival rate for patients diagnosed from 2019 to 2023 was 73.7%, meaning more than seven out of 10 cancer patients lived beyond five years. That is 19.5 percentage points higher than 54.2% in 2001 to 2005. Women's survival was 79.4%, higher than men's 68.2%.
By cancer type, survival was high for thyroid (100.2%), prostate (96.9%), and breast (94.7%) cancers, and relatively low for lung (42.5%), liver (40.4%), and pancreatic (17.0%) cancers. However, survival for lung, stomach, and liver cancers has improved markedly over the past two decades.
In international comparisons, Korea showed strong treatment outcomes. The cancer incidence rate adjusted to the world standard population was 288.6 per 100,000 people, similar to major countries, but the cancer mortality rate was 64.3, lower than in Japan and the United States. Low mortality relative to high incidence is seen as a result of early screening and improved treatment outcomes.
Lee Jung-gyu, director-general for public health policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "These statistics show that cancer survival continues to improve thanks to early screening and treatment outcomes," and added, "We will strengthen cancer control policies focused on prevention and early diagnosis to address the rising cancer burden in an aged society."
Yang Han-gwang, president of the National Cancer Center, said, "With 2.73 million people living with cancer, systematic management that includes support for cancer survivors, in addition to prevention and treatment, is crucial."