How Many People Die From Lymphoma Every Year
Lymphoma kills about 274,000 people a year, roughly 750 a day. Non-Hodgkin vs Hodgkin, UK and US figures, survival by stage and who is most at risk.
Picture a man in his sixties standing in front of a bathroom mirror, pressing two fingers into the side of his neck. There is a lump there, painless and rubbery, about the size of a grape. It has been there for a few weeks. He has had no cold, no sore throat, nothing to explain it. He has also been waking up with his T-shirt soaked through, and his belt has moved a notch tighter in the wrong direction. He tells himself it is probably nothing.
Often it is nothing. Swollen glands are one of the most common things a GP sees, and most of them are the body fighting an infection. But a painless lump that does not go away, together with night sweats and unexplained weight loss, is the classic picture of lymphoma: a cancer of the lymphatic system, the network of glands and vessels that carries the white blood cells your immune system depends on.
Lymphoma is not one of the cancers people talk about much. It does not have a pink ribbon month that everyone recognises, and it rarely makes headlines. Yet it kills around 274,000 people around the world every year, roughly 750 every day. They are part of the roughly 170,000 deaths a day you can watch on our live counter. This article breaks down where those deaths happen, how the two main types differ, and why survival has improved so dramatically for some patients and so slowly for others.
The headline number
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) publishes worldwide cancer estimates through its GLOBOCAN project. The latest edition, GLOBOCAN 2022, records 250,679 deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 553,389 new cases. Hodgkin lymphoma, the rarer type, adds roughly 23,000 deaths a year (GLOBOCAN 2020 recorded 23,376). Together that makes about 274,000 lymphoma deaths a year.
Here is what that looks like broken down by time.
| Time period | Lymphoma deaths (all types) | Non-Hodgkin only |
|---|---|---|
| Per year | about 274,000 | 250,679 |
| Per month | about 22,800 | about 20,900 |
| Per week | about 5,260 | about 4,820 |
| Per day | about 750 | about 690 |
| Per hour | about 31 | about 29 |
| Per minute | about 1 every 2 minutes | about 1 every 2 minutes |
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma ranks 11th among all cancers for deaths worldwide in GLOBOCAN 2022. Combined, lymphomas account for a little under 3% of the roughly 9.7 million cancer deaths recorded each year. For the bigger picture of cancer mortality, see our article on how many people die from cancer every day or the cancer cause page.
Two diseases with one name
"Lymphoma" covers dozens of different cancers, but they are grouped into two families. The split dates back to 1832, when the London physician Thomas Hodgkin described a group of patients with enlarged glands and spleens. Much later, pathologists found that one form of the disease contains a distinctive large cell, the Reed-Sternberg cell. Lymphomas with that cell became "Hodgkin lymphoma". Everything else became "non-Hodgkin".
The two behave very differently.
| Feature | Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | Hodgkin lymphoma |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths worldwide each year | 250,679 (GLOBOCAN 2022) | about 23,000 |
| New cases worldwide each year | 553,389 (GLOBOCAN 2022) | about 83,000 |
| Share of lymphoma deaths | about 92% | about 8% |
| Typical age at diagnosis | Mostly over 65 | Peaks in young adults and again in older age |
| Number of subtypes | More than 60 | A handful |
| Common subtypes | Diffuse large B-cell, follicular, mantle cell | Classical Hodgkin, nodular lymphocyte predominant |
| US 5-year survival | Varies widely by subtype and stage | About 89% overall (NCI SEER) |
The most important thing in that table is the gap in outcomes. Hodgkin lymphoma has become one of the great success stories of cancer medicine. Combination chemotherapy developed in the 1960s and 1970s turned it from an almost always fatal disease into one where most patients are cured. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a much more mixed group: some slow-growing types can be watched for years without treatment, while aggressive types need immediate, intensive therapy.
The UK and the US
National figures give a clearer sense of how lymphoma deaths fall in wealthy countries with good access to treatment.
| Country | Non-Hodgkin deaths a year | Hodgkin deaths a year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | about 5,100 (about 14 a day) | about 320 (about 1 a day) | Cancer Research UK, 2022 to 2024 |
| United States | about 19,970 (estimate for 2026) | about 1,100 (estimate for 2026) | American Cancer Society |
In the United Kingdom, non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the 12th most common cause of cancer death. Cancer Research UK reports that almost two-thirds (63%) of these deaths are in people aged 75 and over. Mortality rates have risen by about two-thirds since the early 1970s, largely because more cases are diagnosed in an ageing population, but they have fallen by roughly a tenth over the last decade as treatment has improved. CRUK projects around 6,000 non-Hodgkin deaths a year by 2038 to 2040, even though the death rate is expected to keep falling, because there will be more older people.
Hodgkin lymphoma tells a different story. UK death rates have fallen by around three-quarters (74%) since the early 1970s. It is now the 29th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, with more than half of those deaths in people aged 75 and over.
In the United States, the American Cancer Society estimates about 79,320 new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and about 19,970 deaths in 2026, with 11,710 deaths in men and 8,260 in women. The US non-Hodgkin death rate fell by around 2% a year between 2013 and 2022. For Hodgkin lymphoma, the ACS expects about 8,920 new cases and about 1,100 deaths in 2026.
Survival by stage
Lymphoma is staged from I (one group of lymph nodes) to IV (spread to organs such as the liver, lungs or bone marrow). Unlike many solid tumours, lymphoma can be treated successfully even at stage IV, which is why survival drops less steeply with stage than it does for cancers such as pancreatic cancer.
| Stage at diagnosis | Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 5-year relative survival (US) |
|---|---|
| Stage I | 87.7% |
| Stage II | 79.1% |
| Stage III | 73.9% |
| Stage IV | 63.8% |
Source: NCI SEER, people diagnosed 2015 to 2021.
These figures are averages across all non-Hodgkin subtypes. The American Cancer Society gives subtype figures that show how wide the range is: for follicular lymphoma, 5-year survival is around 97% when localised and still about 87% when distant, while for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma it is about 73% localised and 58% distant. For Hodgkin lymphoma, the NCI puts overall 5-year relative survival at about 89%.
Survival also depends on where you live. In many low-income countries, lymphoma is diagnosed late, biopsies and specialist pathology are hard to get, and newer drugs such as rituximab (an antibody treatment that transformed B-cell lymphoma care in the 2000s) are expensive or unavailable. That is one reason why the gap between cases and deaths is much narrower in poorer regions.
Who is most at risk?
For most people with lymphoma there is no single clear cause. But some groups face a much higher risk, and many of the risk factors involve the immune system.
| Risk factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Older age | Most non-Hodgkin lymphoma is diagnosed after 65, and most deaths are after 75 |
| HIV infection | Weakened immunity sharply raises the risk of aggressive lymphomas |
| Organ transplant drugs | Long-term immune suppression raises the risk |
| Epstein-Barr virus | Linked to Hodgkin lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma |
| Helicobacter pylori | Linked to a type of stomach lymphoma (MALT lymphoma) |
| Autoimmune conditions | Rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome and coeliac disease are linked to higher risk |
| Family history | A close relative with lymphoma raises the risk a little |
| Sex | Men are more likely to develop and die from both types |
The HIV connection is especially important globally. Before effective antiretroviral therapy, lymphoma was one of the most common cancers in people with AIDS. It still is in parts of sub-Saharan Africa where treatment is patchy. We cover the wider picture in our article on how many people die from HIV/AIDS every day and on the HIV/AIDS live counter page.
Burkitt lymphoma, a fast-growing type, is also notable for its geography. In parts of equatorial Africa it is the most common childhood cancer, and it is linked to the combination of Epstein-Barr virus and repeated malaria infection. It responds well to chemotherapy when treatment is available, which makes it one of the clearest examples of a cancer where access to care, not biology, decides who lives.
How lymphoma compares with other cancers
Lymphoma sits in the middle of the global cancer table: less deadly than the big killers, but deadlier than many cancers that get far more attention.
| Cancer | Deaths worldwide each year (GLOBOCAN 2022) |
|---|---|
| Lung | about 1,817,000 |
| Pancreatic | about 467,000 |
| Leukaemia | about 305,000 |
| Lymphoma (all types) | about 274,000 |
| Brain and nervous system | about 248,000 |
| Bladder | about 221,000 |
| Kidney | about 156,000 |
Lymphoma and leukaemia are often grouped together as blood cancers, and together they kill well over half a million people a year. If you want to compare them, see our articles on leukaemia deaths, bladder cancer deaths and kidney cancer deaths.
Symptoms worth knowing
Because lymphoma can start in almost any part of the body, its symptoms vary. The NHS and the main UK charities highlight a common set to look out for.
| Symptom | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Swollen lymph nodes | A painless lump in the neck, armpit or groin that does not go away after a few weeks |
| Night sweats | Drenching sweats that soak clothes or bedding |
| Unexplained weight loss | Losing weight without trying |
| Fever | High temperatures that come and go with no infection |
| Itching | Persistent itching all over the body, with no rash |
| Tiredness | Fatigue that does not improve with rest |
| Breathlessness or cough | Can happen if lymph nodes in the chest are enlarged |
None of these symptoms on its own means lymphoma. Most swollen glands are caused by infections and settle within two weeks. The usual advice is to see a GP about any lump that keeps growing, lasts more than a few weeks, or comes with the other symptoms in the table. Doctors diagnose lymphoma with a biopsy, usually removing all or part of a lymph node.
Why lymphoma deaths are likely to rise
The death rate from lymphoma is falling in many wealthy countries, but the total number of deaths is not expected to fall with it. The reason is simple: non-Hodgkin lymphoma is mostly a disease of older age, and the world is ageing fast. Cancer Research UK's projection, where the death rate falls while the total count rises from about 5,100 to about 6,000 a year, is a small version of what is likely to happen globally.
At the same time, the treatment picture is changing quickly. CAR-T cell therapy, where a patient's own immune cells are engineered to attack the cancer, and bispecific antibodies are now used for some relapsed lymphomas that would once have been fatal. These treatments are expensive and mostly available in high-income countries, so they may widen the gap between rich and poor before they narrow it.
If you are curious how age, lifestyle and family history shape your own outlook, our Death Clock gives a statistical life expectancy estimate based on factors like these. It is not a medical tool, but it puts numbers like the ones in this article into a personal context. You can also see how deaths change across the life course on our 70 to 84 age group page, the stage of life when most lymphoma deaths happen.
The bottom line
Lymphoma kills about 274,000 people a year, around 750 a day, and more than nine in ten of those deaths are from non-Hodgkin types. In the UK it accounts for about 5,400 deaths a year across both types, and in the US for about 21,000. Hodgkin lymphoma is now one of the most curable cancers, but non-Hodgkin lymphoma remains a serious, varied disease whose outcome depends heavily on the subtype, the stage, the patient's age and, above all, whether modern treatment is available.
This article takes around twelve minutes to read. In that time, roughly six people around the world have died from lymphoma, and about 1,400 people have died from all causes. You can watch that number climb in real time on our live death counter.
Sources: IARC GLOBOCAN 2022, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma fact sheet (Global Cancer Observatory); GLOBOCAN 2020 Hodgkin lymphoma estimates as reported in peer-reviewed analyses; Cancer Research UK, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma mortality statistics (2022 to 2024); American Cancer Society, Key Statistics for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Hodgkin Lymphoma (2026 estimates); National Cancer Institute SEER Cancer Stat Facts (survival 2015 to 2021); NHS, Non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma symptoms. Figures are rounded and estimates differ between sources. This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. If you are worried about a symptom, speak to your GP.
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