Cancer and mental health statistics worldwide

Updated October 2026

Depression and anxiety are common after a cancer diagnosis. A worldwide review of one hundred and eighty-three studies found that about 27% of people with cancer had depression ¹.

Oncology and haematology settings are hospital and clinic services for cancer and for blood disorders. The anxiety questionnaire used in the German figure has seven questions; a score of ten or more marks clinically relevant anxiety.

Getting help

If something on this page reflects what you are going through, you do not have to manage it alone. Our guide to finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified, and the TherapyRoute directory lists therapists in many countries.

If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, our list of helplines and crisis lines worldwide gives free services by country. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

How common depression and anxiety are

An adjustment disorder is distress after a stressful event that is stronger or lasts longer than expected and gets in the way of daily life. A mood disorder is a condition, such as depression, that mainly affects mood.

• In interview studies of adults with cancer in oncology and haematology settings, 20.7% had some type of depression, all types combined. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2011, study years not stated) ²
• In interview studies of adults with cancer in oncology and haematology settings, 19.4% had an adjustment disorder. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2011, study years not stated) ²
• In interview studies of adults with cancer in oncology and haematology settings, 10.3% had an anxiety disorder. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2011, study years not stated) ²
• In interview studies of adults with cancer in oncology and haematology settings, 38.2% had a mood disorder of some kind. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2011, study years not stated) ²

By region and country

These figures come from pooled reviews and national surveys using different measures. Read each with its label and do not rank them. Where a figure below says highest or lowest, that ranking holds only within its own review. A meta-analysis combines the results of many studies.

If you are thinking about suicide, find a crisis line in your country.

Compared with people without cancer

In the United States and Germany, people with cancer are more likely to have depression or anxiety than people without it ^{3 4}. The comparison figures, for depression in the United States and for anxiety in Germany, are in Key figures. The figure below shows how many United States adults with cancer said a doctor or health professional had told them they had an anxiety disorder. PTSD is post-traumatic stress disorder, and OCD is obsessive-compulsive disorder.

• Among adults in the United States who had or had had cancer, 28.1% said a doctor or health professional had told them they had an anxiety disorder, including PTSD and OCD, age-adjusted, in 2022. (survey, at one point in time, 2022 data) ³

By sex and cancer type

Women with cancer have depression more often than men, and some cancer types carry higher rates ^{1 1}.

• Across a worldwide review, 31% of women with cancer had depression, compared with 26% of men. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2021, study years not stated) ¹
• Across a worldwide review, 32% of people with colorectal cancer had depression, the highest of any cancer type, followed by lung cancer at 31%. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2021, study years not stated) ¹

Over time after cancer

For about half of older survivors symptoms stay low, but for some they get worse or stay high ^{11 11}.

• Among older cancer survivors in the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative cohort followed from 2015 to 2021, 24.1% had anxiety and depression symptoms that got worse over time. (cohort study, 2015-2021 data) ¹¹
• Among older cancer survivors in the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative cohort followed from 2015 to 2021, 16.1% had persistently high anxiety and depression symptoms throughout. (cohort study, 2015-2021 data) ¹¹

How to read these figures

Questionnaire screens point to a probable condition; diagnostic interviews give lower figures. Do not compare one with the other.

Regional rows come from pooled reviews and describe a region, not one country.

Psycho-oncology services, which give mental health care alongside cancer care, and therapists support people with cancer during and after treatment. Our guide on finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Cancer and mental health statistics worldwide. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/cancer-and-mental-health-statistics-worldwide-by-therapyroute. Last updated 26 October 2026.

References

1. [1] Global, regional, and national prevalence of depression among cancer patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Indian journal of psychiatry (Mejareh ZN et al.), 2021 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
2. [2] Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder in oncological, haematological, and palliative-care settings: a meta-analysis of 94 interview-based studies. The Lancet. Oncology (Mitchell AJ et al.), 2011 europepmc.org.
3. [3] Trends in depression and anxiety prevalence by cancer status among US adults: analyses of the 2019-2022 National Health Interview Survey. BMJ open (Kim I et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
4. [4] Prevalence and severity of anxiety in cancer patients: results from a multi-center cohort study in Germany. Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology (Goerling U et al.), 2023 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
5. [5] Depression, anxiety and associated factors among cancer patients in Africa; a systematic review and meta-analysis study. BMC psychiatry (Nakie G et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
6. [6] Prevalence and associated factors of depression among breast cancer patients in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis. SAGE open medicine (Mohammed A et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
7. [7] Prevalence of depression among breast cancer patients in Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in oncology (Mo W et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
8. [8] The prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation among cancer patients in mainland China and its provinces, 1994-2021: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 201 cross-sectional studies. Journal of affective disorders (Ding X et al.), 2023 europepmc.org.
9. [9] The prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with cancer in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (Darvishi N et al.), 2022 europepmc.org.
10. [10] The association between obesity and self-reported current depression among adult cancer survivors residing in Brazil. International health (Dias de Oliveira G et al.), 2019 europepmc.org.
11. [11] Trajectories and predictors of anxiety and depression among older cancer survivors: a nationally representative cohort study. Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice (Pu J et al.), 2025 europepmc.org.