France Chronic Disease Trends: Cancer Leads, Smoking Retreats

What the numbers show

Deaths are counted by Inserm’s CépiDc from death certificates and analysed with DREES and Santé publique France. In 2023, 637,082 residents died in France, about 36,000 fewer than in 2022, and the age-standardised death rate fell to 828.3 per 100,000. Tumours were the leading cause (27% of deaths, 239 per 100,000), followed by cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (21.4%). Cancer death rates keep falling except for pancreatic cancer (DREES, CépiDc and Santé publique France). The overseas departments are included: Mayotte (+89%) and French Guiana (+37%) had far more deaths than national rates would predict, while Île-de-France was 15% below. A June 2026 analysis of 2024 deaths found mortality from circulatory, endocrine and metabolic diseases still above pre-pandemic trends (BEH 2026).

Cancer incidence for mainland France is estimated from the Francim registries: 433,136 new cases in 2023, with world-standardised rates of 355 per 100,000 in men and 274 in women. The women’s rate has risen by about 0.9% a year since 1990 (Santé publique France, BEH 2023). The Institut national du cancer (INCa) counts 245,610 cases in men and 187,526 in women, and 164,314 cancer deaths in 2023. Age-standardised cancer death rates fell by 1.61% a year in men and 0.76% in women over 2019–2023, but lung cancer incidence in women rose by 3.6% a year (INCa Panorama 2026).

Risk factors are moving in opposite directions. Daily smoking among 18–75 year-olds in mainland France was 25% in 2014 and 2021 and 18% in 2024; tobacco caused more than 68,000 deaths in 2023, 11% of all deaths (Santé publique France; Baromètre 2024). Alcohol causes about 41,000 deaths a year, though consumption fell from 26.0 litres of pure alcohol per adult in 1961 to 10.8 litres in 2022 (Santé publique France). Treated diabetes reached 5.6% of the population (more than 3.8 million people) in 2023, with age-standardised rates 1.9 times the national level in La Réunion and 1.7 times in Guadeloupe (Santé publique France). Adult obesity rose from 8.6% in 1997 to 13.1% in 2006 (Charles et al., Obesity 2008), 17.0% in 2020 (Fontbonne et al., J Clin Med 2023) and 18.1% in 2024, nearly 10 million people (Oféo survey via Le Quotidien du Médecin).

What is driving it

Ageing is the biggest driver of rising cancer numbers. INCa’s 2024 Panorama found incidence had roughly doubled since 1990 (+104% in women, +98% in men); population ageing explained 57% of the rise in women and 78% in men, and changes in risk factors about 47% in women and 20% in men (Le Quotidien du Médecin). Women’s risk reflects smoking: Santé publique France has called the rise of tobacco-related disease and death among women ‘worrying’ (BEH 2018). In 2015, about 68,000 new cancer cases (20%) were attributed to tobacco and 28,000 (8%) to alcohol (INCa). Obesity research shows overweight hovering around 30% since 1997 while obesity climbed steadily, faster among young adults and for severe obesity (Fontbonne et al. 2023).

Policy has hit tobacco hardest. Article 27 of the health law of 26 January 2016 brought in plain packs: makers had to produce only plain packs from 20 May 2016, and shops could sell only plain packs from 1 January 2017 (Vidal). Tax rises followed; a pack cost €12.50 on 1 January 2024 and tobacco taxes raise about €14 billion a year. France has taxed sugary drinks since 2012, but a 2024 Senate report found the 2018 reform had only a marginal effect, and it put obesity’s toll at about 27,000 premature deaths a year (Senate).

Recent cases

• 1 October 2026: Santé publique France opened registration for the 2026 Mois sans tabac, the national stop-smoking challenge held every November (Santé publique France).
• 15 July 2026: INCa published the 2026 edition of its Panorama des cancers, putting new cancer cases at 433,136 and cancer deaths at 164,314 in 2023 (INCa).
• 23 June 2026: A BEH study of 2024 deaths found mortality slightly lower than in 2023, mainly because of fewer Covid-19 deaths, but circulatory, endocrine and metabolic disease mortality still above pre-pandemic trends (Santé publique France).

How France compares with the EU

In 2023 France had the lowest death rates in the EU for both circulatory diseases and ischaemic heart disease: about half the EU rate overall and well under half for heart attacks and related conditions. Cancer is the exception. France is only slightly below the EU average there, so in France cancer kills more people than circulatory disease, while across the EU as a whole circulatory disease still comes first.

Age-standardised death rates per 100,000 people, which remove the effect of different age structures. Latest Eurostat year is 2023. Source: Eurostat, causes of death, standardised death rate (hlth_cd_asdr2), accessed through the EU open data API on 21 October 2026.

Press releases and official reports, 2023–2026

Five key releases a year for the last four years, newest first. Most come from national bodies such as ONISR, the Ministry of the Interior, Santé publique France, the BEA and BEAmer investigation bureaus and the Banque de France, from the Senate and National Assembly, and from research journals; a few news reports are included where they are the clearest public record of an event. Headlines are our English translations of the French originals. Releases from 2007–2022 are in the expandable list after 2023.

2026

• 1 Oct 2026Santé publique FranceMois sans tabac 2026: registration opens
• 15 Jul 2026INCaFight against cancer: the Institute publishes its new activity report and the 2026 edition of the Panorama des cancers
• 23 Jun 2026Santé publique FranceLeading causes of death and main associated causes in France in 2024 (BEH 2026, no. 15)
• 18 May 2026INCaLung cancer screening: enrolment opens in the IMPULSION research programme
• 5 May 2026INCaNational cancer registry: four months after the decree, first progress and a collective effort taking shape

2025

• 15 Oct 2025Santé publique FranceSharp fall in smoking in France: 4 million fewer daily smokers in 10 years
• 8 Jul 2025Santé publique FranceLeading causes of death in France: trends and regional disparities in 2023
• 30 Jun 2025Santé publique FranceCardio-neuro-vascular diseases: strong regional disparities persist
• 27 May 2025Santé publique FranceWorld No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2025 (BEH 2025, no. 10)
• 4 Mar 2025Santé publique FranceCardiovascular diseases in France: a major impact and persistent inequalities

2024

• 14 Nov 2024Santé publique FranceDiabetes in France continues to rise
• 28 Oct 2024Santé publique France9th Mois sans tabac: a new chance to take up the challenge
• 8 Oct 2024Santé publique FranceLeading causes of death in France in 2022
• 29 May 2024SenateBehavioural health taxes: stop or carry on? (information report no. 638)
• 28 May 2024Santé publique FranceWorld No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2024 (BEH 2024, no. 11)

2023

• 19 Dec 2023Santé publique FranceLeading causes of death in France in 2021
• 14 Nov 2023Santé publique FranceWorld Diabetes Day, 14 November 2023: sharing updated data on the disease in La Réunion
• 4 Jul 2023Santé publique FranceIncidence of the main cancers in mainland France in 2023 and trends since 1990 (BEH no. 12-13)
• 31 May 2023Santé publique FranceIn 2022, France still has nearly 12 million daily smokers
• 30 Jan 2023Santé publique FranceAttitudes and behaviour of the French towards cancer: results of the 4th Cancer Barometer

Photo list

How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases and research linked above; where agencies publish provisional numbers we say so, because they are revised. National death data come from Inserm’s cause-of-death centre (CépiDc) and take two to three years to finalise, and some figures cover metropolitan France only while others include the overseas departments, so we say which year, area and source each figure covers. Money is given in euros. Headlines and quotes are our translations from French. Photos are public-domain or Creative Commons images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.