Skin Cancer Facts and Statistics – Australia

While these statistics are from Australia it shows the depth of the problem.

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2 in 3 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70. [1]
Around 2,000 Australians die from skin cancer each year. [2]
Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.
Skin cancers account for about 80% of all new cancers diagnosed each year in Australia. Each year, Australians are 4 times more likely to develop a common skin cancer than any other form of cancer.[3]
Over 750,000 Australians are treated for skin cancer each year [4] – that’s over 2,000 people every day.
Skin cancer already cost the health system around $300 million annually over a decade ago, the highest cost of all cancers. More recently it has been calculated that the total cost of skin cancers (other than melanoma) alone was $512.3 million in 2010 (diagnosis, treatment and pathology). [4][5]
The most commonly diagnosed cancer among adolescents and young adults is melanoma; it accounts for more than one-quarter of all cancers among Australians aged 15–29 years. [6]
In 2013, 374 Victorians died from melanoma. [7]
Eighty-nine per cent of Victorians are alive five years following a diagnosis of melanoma. [7] This has improved significantly from 85% in 1985. [8]
It is estimated that approximately 200 melanomas and 34,000 other skin cancer types per year are caused by occupational exposures in Australia. [9]
In Victoria, melanoma is the fifth most common cancer overall. 2,307 Victorians were diagnosed with melanoma in 2013 (that is equivalent to six diagnoses every day). [7]
Melanoma is the fourth most common cancer for Victorian women (behind breast, bowel and lung).[7]
Melanoma is the fourth most common cancer in Victorian men (behind prostate, bowel and lung). [7]
Research shows that using solariums before the age of 35 boosts the risk of melanoma by 59%. [10]

For more information visit Cancer Council’s Skin Cancer Statistics & Issues.