Kidney cancer caused 155,953 deaths worldwide in 2022, according to the GLOBOCAN 2022 kidney fact sheet. The same source ranked kidney cancer 16th globally for mortality and reported an age-standardized world mortality rate of 1.5. In the United States, GLOBOCAN recorded 14,295 deaths in 2022, while SEER estimates 15,160 deaths from kidney and renal pelvis cancer in 2026.
Contents
- Global mortality snapshot
- Deaths by world region
- U.S. mortality counts and rates
- Differences by sex and age
- Recent mortality trends
- Stage and relative survival
Global mortality snapshot
The GLOBOCAN 2022 kidney fact sheet counted 155,953 kidney cancer deaths worldwide. Kidney cancer ranked 16th among cancers for global mortality. Its age-standardized world mortality rate was 1.5. An age-standardized rate is designed to make populations with different age structures more comparable; it is not the same measure as a local, crude death rate.
The same fact sheet recorded 434,840 new kidney cancer cases globally in 2022. Kidney cancer ranked 14th for incidence, with an age-standardized world incidence rate of 4.4. Comparing the two global measures shows why incidence and mortality should be reported separately: the incidence count describes new diagnoses, while the mortality count describes deaths attributed to the disease during the measured period.
The global five-year prevalence was distributed across regions as follows in the GLOBOCAN 2022 kidney fact sheet:
| Measure | Count | Share of global total |
|---|---|---|
| New cases | 434,840 | — |
| Deaths | 155,953 | — |
| Five-year prevalent cases | Not stated as one global count in the supplied figures | — |
The regional figures below are counts for 2022, not forecasts. They should not be interpreted as individual risk estimates, and the number of deaths in a region is affected by population size as well as disease patterns, diagnosis, treatment, and other factors.
Deaths by world region
Asia recorded 59,239 kidney cancer deaths in 2022, or 38.0% of the global total, according to the GLOBOCAN 2022 kidney fact sheet. Europe recorded 52,347 deaths, or 33.6%. Together, those two regions accounted for the largest reported shares of global kidney cancer mortality.
The fact sheet reported 16,977 deaths in Northern America, representing 10.9% of the world total. Latin America and the Caribbean recorded 15,678 deaths, or 10.1%. Africa recorded 10,173 deaths, or 6.5%, and Oceania recorded 1,539 deaths, or 0.99%.
| Region | Kidney cancer deaths in 2022 | Share of global deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | 59,239 | 38.0% |
| Europe | 52,347 | 33.6% |
| Northern America | 16,977 | 10.9% |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 15,678 | 10.1% |
| Africa | 10,173 | 6.5% |
| Oceania | 1,539 | 0.99% |
The same source also reported regional incidence and five-year prevalence, which provide context but are not mortality measures. Asia had 151,276 new cases, or 34.8% of global incidence, while Europe had 145,721, or 33.5%. Northern America had 79,769 new cases, or 18.3%; Latin America and the Caribbean had 35,927, or 8.3%; Africa had 17,129, or 3.9%; and Oceania had 5,018, or 1.2%.
For five-year prevalence, Europe had 473,212 cases, or 34.5% of the global total reported by GLOBOCAN. Asia had 448,321, or 32.7%; Northern America had 280,473, or 20.5%; Latin America and the Caribbean had 107,409, or 7.8%; Africa had 43,425, or 3.2%; and Oceania had 17,134, or 1.3%. Prevalence counts represent people living after a diagnosis within the stated five-year window, so they are different from both annual diagnoses and annual deaths.
U.S. mortality counts and rates
For the United States in 2022, the GLOBOCAN 2022 United States fact sheet reported 14,295 kidney cancer deaths. Kidney cancer ranked 12th for deaths and represented 2.4% of all cancer deaths in the country that year. The source also reported 71,759 new cases, ranking kidney cancer eighth for new cases, and 253,038 five-year prevalent cases. Kidney cancer represented 3.0% of all new cancer cases, and its reported prevalence was 75.6 per 100,000 population.
SEER uses the broader category “kidney and renal pelvis cancer” in its Cancer Stat Facts: Kidney and Renal Pelvis Cancer. Its 2026 figures are estimates, not completed counts: 80,450 new cases and 15,160 deaths. In that SEER estimate, the disease represented 3.8% of all new cancer cases in the United States.
For observed rates, SEER reported a kidney and renal pelvis cancer death rate of 3.4 per 100,000 people per year based on deaths from 2020–2024. The corresponding rate of new cases was 18.0 per 100,000 people per year based on 2019–2023 data. Because these two rates use different periods, they should not be treated as a same-period pair.
The U.S. figures use different labels and time frames. GLOBOCAN’s 2022 count is a global-comparison estimate for kidney cancer, while SEER’s 2026 count is a U.S. estimate for kidney and renal pelvis cancer. Those differences are important when comparing the figures; they are not evidence that one source is correcting the other.
Differences by sex and age
SEER reported a kidney and renal pelvis cancer death rate of 5.0 per 100,000 for males of all races and 2.1 per 100,000 for females of all races, based on deaths from 2020–2024. The supplied SEER figures also show variation by race and ethnicity within the sex-specific categories.
Among males, the reported death rate was 9.2 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people, 2.4 for non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander people, and 5.3 for non-Hispanic White people. Among females, the reported rates were 3.8 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people, 1.0 for non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander people, and 2.2 for non-Hispanic White people.
For incidence, SEER reported 24.4 new cases per 100,000 among males of all races and 12.3 among females of all races, using its incidence data. Among males, the reported incidence rates were 25.5 per 100,000 for Hispanic people, 37.4 for non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people, 12.7 for non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander people, 26.8 for non-Hispanic Black people, and 25.1 for non-Hispanic White people. Among females, the corresponding supplied figures were 14.9, 20.0, 5.9, 13.3, and 12.0 per 100,000, respectively.
Age also differs between diagnosis and death. People aged 65–74 accounted for 30.2% of new kidney and renal pelvis cancer cases, followed by ages 55–64 at 25.4%, ages 75–84 at 17.2%, ages 45–54 at 13.7%, and people older than 84 at 5.1%. The median age at diagnosis was 65.
Among deaths, people aged 65–74 accounted for 29.5%, ages 75–84 for 27.7%, people older than 84 for 16.7%, ages 55–64 for 17.9%, and ages 45–54 for 5.9%. The median age at death was 73. These percentages describe the age distribution of cases or deaths in the SEER data; they are not age-specific mortality rates.
Recent mortality trends
SEER found that kidney and renal pelvis cancer death rates fell by an average of 1.1% per year over 2015–2024. Over 2014–2023, incidence rose by an average of 0.7% per year. These are trend estimates over the stated intervals, not a forecast of what will happen in a particular future year.
The recent annual SEER values show the reported death rate remaining close to 3.4 per 100,000. In 2019, it was 3.48; in 2020, 3.52; in 2021, 3.40; in 2022, 3.41; and in 2023, 3.39. SEER reported a 2024 death rate of 3.41 per 100,000 and a modeled trend value of 3.37 per 100,000.
| Year | Death rate per 100,000 | Other supplied SEER measure |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 3.48 | Incidence 16.40; five-year survival 80.97% |
| 2020 | 3.52 | Incidence 14.41; five-year survival 81.44% |
| 2021 | 3.40 | Incidence 16.03; five-year survival 81.90% |
| 2022 | 3.41 | Incidence 15.32; five-year survival 82.35% |
| 2023 | 3.39 | Incidence 16.08; five-year survival 82.79% |
| 2024 | 3.41 | Modeled trend value 3.37 |
The same SEER source reported older historical values for 1975–1980. Death rates were 3.61 per 100,000 in 1975 and 1976, 3.68 in 1977, 3.69 in 1978, 3.63 in 1979, and 3.68 in 1980. Five-year relative survival in those years was 54.61%, 52.94%, 48.28%, 54.35%, 51.10%, and 55.88%, respectively. These legacy values are reproduced as reported by SEER and are not independently verified here.
Stage and relative survival
SEER reported an overall five-year relative survival of 79.2% for kidney and renal pelvis cancer. Relative survival compares people with the cancer with similar people in the general population; it is not a guarantee for an individual patient and does not describe the probability of avoiding recurrence.
Stage at diagnosis is associated with different reported survival levels. Localized cancer accounted for 66% of cases and had a five-year relative survival of 93.6%. Regional cancer accounted for 17% of cases and had a five-year relative survival of 77.6%. Distant cancer accounted for 15% of cases and had a five-year relative survival of 20.3%. Cancer with unknown stage accounted for 3% of cases and had a five-year relative survival of 55.2%.
The stage percentages and survival figures are population statistics from SEER, not predictions for a specific person. They also describe different groups within the kidney and renal pelvis cancer category, so they should be read alongside the overall 79.2% figure rather than substituted for it. The measured period and the source definition matter whenever mortality, incidence, prevalence, or survival statistics are compared.