# cervical cancer statistics > • Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604 000 new cases and 342 000 deaths in 2020. About 90% of the new cases and deaths worldwide in 2020 occurred in low- and middle-income countries (1) > • Two human papillomavirus (HPV) types (16 and 18) are responsible for nearly 50% of high grade cervical pre-cancers > • HPV is mainly transmitted through sexual contact and most people are infected with HPV shortly after the onset of sexual activity. More than 90% of them clear the infection eventually. > • Women living with HIV are 6 times more likely to develop cervical cancer compared to women without HIV. > • Vaccination against HPV and screening and treatment of pre-cancer lesions is a cost-effective way to prevent cervical cancer. > • Cervical cancer can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage and treated promptly. > • Comprehensive cervical cancer control includes primary prevention (vaccination against HPV), secondary prevention (screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions), tertiary prevention (diagnosis and treatment of invasive cervical cancer) and palliative care. [[World Health Organisation#^s8lb0]] > - There are around 3,200 new cervical cancer cases in the UK every year, that's nearly 9 every day (2016-2018). > - In females in the UK, cervical cancer is the 14th most common cancer, with around 3,200 new cases every year (2016-2018). > - Cervical cancer accounts for 2% of all new cancer cases in females in the UK (2016-2018). > - Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1% of all new cancer cases in females and males combined in the UK (2016-2018). > - Incidence rates for cervical cancer in the UK are highest in females aged 30 to 34 (2016-2018). > - Each year around a tenth (9%) of all new cervical cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in females aged 75 and over (2016-2018). > - Since the early 1990s, cervical cancer incidence rates have decreased by a quarter (25%) in females in the UK (2016-2018). > - Over the last decade, cervical cancer incidence rates have remained stable in females in the UK (2016-2018). > - See our new [Early Diagnosis Data Hub(link is external)](https://crukcancerintelligence.shinyapps.io/EarlyDiagnosis/) for statistics on stage at diagnosis for cervical cancer. > - Cervical cancer incidence rates are likely to fall in future decades, according to projections accounting for the expected impact of HPV vaccination. > - Cervical cancer incidence rates in England in females are 65% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least (2013-2017). > - Around 520 cases of cervical cancer each year in England are linked with deprivation. > - Incidence rates for cervical cancer are lower in the Asian and Black ethnic groups, compared with the White ethnic group, in females in England (2013-2017). See our publication [Cancer Incidence by Broad Ethnic Group(link is external)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-022-01718-5) for more details. > - An estimated 34,800 women who had previously been diagnosed with cervical cancer were alive in the UK at the end of 2010. [[Cancer Research#^3bh6o]] > Around 220,000 British women are diagnosed with cervical abnormalities every year and there were 854 deaths from [cervical cancer](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cervical-cancer/) in England in 2016.[[(Young, 2019)#^fcnxk]]