Thyroid Cancer Statistics


What is thyroid cancer?

Thyroid cancer occurs when cells grow and divide in an abnormal way in the thyroid, a gland found at the front of the throat under the voice box. There are four main types of thyroid cancer, but the most common types are papillary (70-80% of diagnoses) and follicular (15-20% of diagnoses). The less common types are medullary and anaplastic, which make up 4% and 1% of thyroid cancer diagnoses.

You can access further information about thyroid cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is thyroid cancer?

In 2022, 827 Victorians were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Of these, there were 239 males and 588 females, representing 28.9% and 71.1% of the total Victorian thyroid cancer diagnoses, respectively. Currently, thyroid cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 5.2 per 100,000 males and 13.3 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of thyroid cancer is 55 years in males and 49 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 2.3% of all cancers diagnosed and 0.3% of all cancer-related deaths in 2022, thyroid cancer was the 12th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 31st most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.


Figure 1: Distribution of thyroid cancer incidence in 2022, by sex within age groups
47 162 34 100 54 118 46 107 41 69 17 32 0 50 100 150 Under 40 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ Age at diagnosis (years) Number of diagnoses in 2022 Male Female

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


Figure 2: Distribution of thyroid cancer incidence in 2022, compared to the distribution of the Victorian population in 2022, by 5-year age brackets
0% 4% 8% 12% Percentage of population Population distribution by age 0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85+ -0.050 -0.025 0.000 0.025 0.050 0% 4% 8% 12% Percentage of population Thyroid cancer distribution by age

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)

Thyroid cancer morphology

Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused thyroid cancer among all cases. Most thyroid cancer tumours, 79.5%, present as Papillary carcinoma tumours.


Figure 4: Distribution of thyroid cancer morphologies between 2013-2022
79.5%10.3%10.2%
Papillary carcinomaFollicular carcinomaOther and unspecified cell types

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


Geographical variance in thyroid cancer by local government area

Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of thyroid cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of thyroid cancer.


Figure 5: Variation in the incidence of thyroid cancer for the period 2018-2022, by location of residence in Victoria

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


Thyroid cancer in people born overseas

Figure 6 shows the age standardised incidence rates of thyroid cancer in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2017 to 2021. The highest age standardised incidence rate for thyroid cancer was 8.5 for males born in the Middle East and North Africa region and the lowest rate of 3.4 was observed in males born in the North America region. The highest age standardised incidence rate for thyroid cancer was 22 for females born in the Middle East and North Africa region and the lowest rate of 8.5 was observed in females born in the UK and Ireland region.


Figure 6: Age standardised incidence rates and 95% confidence intervals for thyroid cancer in Victorians born in Australia compared to Victorians born in other countries for the period 2017-2021, by sex
020406080100North AmericaSouth and Central AmericaAfricaOther EuropeMiddle East and North AfricaSouthern EuropeUK and IrelandNorth-East AsiaSouth-East AsiaSouthern and Central AsiaAustralia and New Zealand
MaleAge standardised incidence rate (per 100,000)

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)


20406080100North AmericaSouth and Central AmericaAfricaOther EuropeMiddle East and North AfricaSouthern EuropeUK and IrelandNorth-East AsiaSouth-East AsiaSouthern and Central AsiaAustralia and New Zealand
FemaleAge standardised incidence rate (per 100,000)

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)



Thyroid cancer five-year relative survival

Figure 7 shows the change in 5-year survival for thyroid cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for thyroid cancer between 1982-1986 and 2017-2021 from 74% to 95%.

Figure 7: Trend in five year relative survival following diagnosis of thyroid cancer in five year brackets, from the period 1982-1986 to 2017-2021
0 20 40 60 80 100 1982-1986 1987-1991 1992-1996 1997-2001 2002-2006 2007-2011 2012-2016 2017-2021 Year 5-year relative survival (%) Five-year relative survival across all cancers

Source: Victorian Cancer Registry (2024)

This webpage was last updated in June 2024

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