Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the European Union, and the number of new cases is constantly increasing, against the backdrop of an aging population and lifestyle-related risk factors. In parallel, the member states are allocating increasing amounts for prevention, diagnosis and treatment, in the context of an increasingly accentuated social burden.
In 2024, 2.7 million new cases of cancer were registered in the 27 states of the European Union, according to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, quoted by Euronews. Compared to the year 2000, the number of new cases has increased by about 30%, among both women and men. Estimates show that by 2040 approximately 500,000 new cases will be diagnosed.
The increase in incidence is associated with the aging of the population, exposure to risk factors such as unhealthy diet or sedentary lifestyle, but also with the expansion of screening programs, which allow more cases to be detected. In 2024, on average, 2.4 women and 2.8 men will be diagnosed with cancer every minute in the EU.
In women, half of the cases were breast (30%), colorectal (12%) and lung (9%). For men, the most common forms were prostate (22%), lung (14%) and colorectal (13%).
Relative to the population, the rate of new cases has increased by 16% in the last two decades. The evolution has been influenced by more frequent detection of thyroid cancer, changes in reproductive patterns in the case of breast cancer, and factors such as early exposures and diet in the case of colorectal cancer.
Significant increases were seen among young women, particularly for thyroid cancer, breast cancer, skin melanoma, and colorectal cancer. In men, between 2000 and 2022, the incidence of early-onset testicular cancer and cutaneous melanoma was also increasing.
In this context, oncology expenditures have increased significantly in most European states. A report published in 2025 by the Swedish Institute for Health Economics shows that the share of cancer spending varied, in 2023, between approximately 4% of health budgets in the Nordic countries and up to 8% in countries such as France, Germany or some countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania.
At EU level, cancer spending has doubled since 1995 and will reach 6.9% of total health spending in 2023. By 2050, cancer spending per capita could increase by almost 60% in real terms.
Although screening programs have been shown to be cost- and survival-effective, population participation remains uneven, influenced by education level and socioeconomic status. According to the OECD, men with a low level of education have an 83% higher cancer mortality rate than those with higher education, and for women the difference is 31%.
In addition, people diagnosed with cancer frequently experience difficulties with employment, financial stability and psychosocial health. On average, a cancer diagnosis reduces the probability of employment by 14%, with the effect being stronger in Central and Southern Europe.
