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Swiss Statistics

Enquiries, Sources – Cancer epidemiologyOverview

Short description The cancer epidemiology provides information on the situation and development of mortality and cancer incidence in Switzerland. This is a synthesis statistic based on data from existing sources. Different indicators are presented by cancer site to describe the importance of the cancer.
Responsible agency Swiss Federal Statistical Office
in collaboration with NICER (National Institute of Cancer Epidemiology and Registration).
Responsible service Health
Responsible person and information Natascha Wyss, 032 867 23 37, natascha.wyss@bfs.admin.ch
Information service:
032 713 67 00
gesundheit@bfs.admin.ch External website. Content opens in new window.
Conducted by Federal Statistical Office (FSO), in collaboration with the NICER institute and cantonal and inter-cantonal cancer registries (RCT).
Legal basis Federal Statistics Act of 9 October 1992 (RS 431.01)
Type of enquiry Synthesis statistic, based on:
  • 10 cancer registries from the cantons of BS/BL (from 1981), FR (2006), GE (1970), GR/GL (1989/92), NE (1974), SG/AR/AI (1980), TI (1996), VD (1974), VS (1989), ZH (1980)
  • Cause of Death Statistics
Statistical basis and units of enquiry
  • Mortality statistics: cancer deaths
  • Incidence statistics: new cases of malignant tumours
  • Permanent resident population at mid-year (ESPOP)
Features registered Causes of Death (ICD-10) / new cases (ICD-O-3) by:
  • age
  • sex
  • canton of residence (civil domicile)
Degree of regionalisation Language regions
Date survey conducted Calendar year
Date of survey On an ongoing basis
Periodicity Annual
Available since
  • 1983 (at the NICER Institute)
  • 1998 at the FSO
Statistical quality of data Thanks to standardisation by the World Health Organisation, the data are comparable. For the incidence, the registries follow the guidelines of the International Centre for Research on Cancer (IARC - IARC).
Modifications in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the International Classification of Oncology (ICD-O) are made approximately every 10 to 20 years, causing breaks in the time series.
The causes of death of persons who died abroad are often unknown. A certain proportion of new cancer cases only becomes known to the registers after a time lag.
Revision 1995: transition from ICD-8 to ICD-10 and adjustment of the coding rules to the international standard.
Last Update 02.02.2011
Last updated: 07.02.2011
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