One in four deaths in Belgium due to cancer

Cancer was listed as the cause of death in one in four cases in Belgium in 2011, responsible for taking the lives of 27,639 people, or more than a quarter (26.5%) of the deaths in the country, according to the latest figures from Eurostat. Lung cancer was the most common form of cancer among the Belgian population.

This is in line with the European average, with cancer being the cause of 26.3% of the deaths in 2011 in the 28 member states. The number of deaths due to cancer among the Belgian population aged 65 years and younger was 7,119 in 2011, while it accounted for 20,520 deaths in people over 65.

Lung cancer was the deadliest form of cancer in Belgium in 2011, responsible for 24.5% of the deaths, followed by colon cancer (10.8%), breast cancer (8.8%), pancreatic cancer (6%) and prostate cancer (5.5%). Belgium has the third highest proportion of lung cancer deaths in Europe, after Hungary (26.1%) and the Netherlands (24.6%).