Cancer death rates in Wales have declined by more than 16 per cent between 2002 and 2022, according to official Public Health Wales statistics.

The findings indicate that the age-adjusted mortality rate has decreased.

Despite this, a ‘deprivation gap’ has been identified, with the cancer mortality rate being 44 per cent higher in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived in 2022.

This represents an increase from 27 per cent in 2002.

The gap is driven by lung cancer deaths, which are found to be 2.5 times higher in the most deprived areas.

Nathan Lester, head of observatory & cancer analysis team for Public Health Wales, said: "Clearly, every death from cancer is a tragedy for the friends and family of the person who has died."

"These latest statistics provide us with information about the trends in cancer mortality over a twenty year period - which combined with the changes in the overall population show that the rate of mortality due to cancer is declining."

"The significantly increased gap in the mortality rate between the most deprived and least deprived areas is a concern, particularly so with lung cancer as rates of smoking in areas of greater deprivation are stubbornly persistent."