Dhe number of deaths from skin cancer in Germany has increased by 55 percent within 20 years. While around 4,100 people died from it in 2021, there were a good 2,600 such deaths in 2001, as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Tuesday. Over the same period, total cancer deaths increased by just 10 percent.
Older people are particularly affected. Half of those who died of skin cancer in 2021 were 80 years and older, more than a third were at least 85 years old.
In general, significantly more people have been treated in hospital for skin cancer in the past 20 years. In 2021, 105,700 patients were diagnosed with skin cancer in a clinic. That was almost 75 percent more cases than in 2001.
In particular, the number of cases treated for what is known as light skin cancer has increased – by 114 percent from 38,400 cases in 2001 to 82,100 in 2021. Around 23,700 people were treated in hospital for the dangerous black skin cancer in 2021, seven percent more than in 2001 Light skin cancer in particular is suspected of being triggered by sunlight.
Skin cancer was the main diagnosis in 7.4 percent of all cancers treated in hospital in 2021. 20 years earlier, the proportion was still 3.8 percent. Men are affected more often than women: They accounted for 58 percent of inpatient treatments for skin cancer.