Colorectal, lung and breast cancer were the main causes of the 4.9 million oncological discharges registered in the European Union in 2023. According to Eurostat data, colorectal diseases dominate the ranking of hospitalizations in 18 Member States, with a peak incidence in Croatia, while at the opposite pole, countries such as Malta or Ireland report the lowest rates of patients discharged with this diagnosis.
In 2023, hospitals across the European Union discharged 4.9 million patients diagnosed with cancer. Among them, the most frequent diagnoses were:
- Colorectal cancer (554,112 hospital discharges; 11.2% of all oncology patients discharged)
- Lung cancer (506,372 hospital discharges; 10.3% of all oncology patients discharged)
- Breast cancer (480,922 hospital discharges; 9.7% of all discharged oncology patients).
Moreover, in 18 EU countries, colorectal cancer was the main diagnosis among discharged patients suffering from cancer. The highest discharge rates were in:
- Croatia (360 colorectal cancer patients discharged per 100,000 inhabitants)
- Latvia (243 colorectal cancer patients discharged per 100,000 inhabitants)
- Austria (239 colorectal cancer patients discharged per 100,000 inhabitants)
At the opposite pole, the lowest discharge rates were reported in Malta (31 patients per 100,000 inhabitants), Luxembourg (56) and Ireland (58).
