Addis Ababa, Ethiopia +251 92 012 4183 cancer.prev.ethio@gmail.com

What cancer is

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is first in Ethiopia’s estimates for 2024. It leads the ranked estimates by cases and by deaths, and accounts for 36.0% of the cancers estimated in Ethiopian women (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2024). If you have noticed a change in a breast that is new, or that has not settled, take it to a health worker.

Key facts

  • Ethiopia’s estimate for 2024 was 18,840 new breast cancer cases and 8,812 deaths (opens in a new tab). That is 23.8% of all cancers estimated in the country, and 36.0% of those estimated in women. It ranks first by cases in that table. Comparing the site figures within it, it ranks first by deaths as well.
  • The age-standardised rates for 2024 were 40.8 new cases and 20.0 deaths per 100,000 women (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2024).
  • Worldwide, breast cancer accounted for an estimated 2.4 million new cases and 694,000 deaths in 2024 (opens in a new tab), second to lung cancer in new cases.
  • Alcoholic drinks are classified by IARC as carcinogenic to humans (opens in a new tab). Breast is one of the eight sites for which the evidence is judged sufficient. That listing is in the by-cancer-site classification list published by IARC on 18 May 2026. Of the exposures we cover, that is the one with sufficient evidence for breast cancer specifically. It is where a change in habit has established evidence behind it.
  • These figures are modelled estimates; cancer in Ethiopia sets out how they are produced.

What the Ethiopian figures record

The 18,840 cases and 8,812 deaths estimated for 2024 (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2024) are model outputs. Incidence is extrapolated from a registry covering part of the country and applied to the national population. Mortality is derived by applying modelled ratios to that incidence.

Breast and cervical cancer together account for just over half of all cancers estimated in Ethiopian women in 2024. That is 26,999 of 52,362 cases, on the IARC Global Cancer Observatory (opens in a new tab) estimates. That is the scale that decides where prevention and early detection effort has reach.

What is established about risk

Alcohol is the exposure with sufficient evidence for breast cancer among those we cover. Consumption per Ethiopian adult was 2.3 litres of pure alcohol in 2024. That is up from 0.4 litres in 2000, and flat since 2018. In the 2015 national NCD risk-factor survey, about 41% of Ethiopians aged 15–69 had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days. WHO’s position, in its 2024 fact sheet, is that there is “no form of alcohol consumption that is risk-free” (opens in a new tab). WHO also states in that fact sheet that most alcohol-related harm comes from heavy drinking. Reducing heavy drinking occasions is therefore the practical change.

Ethiopian adult obesity was 2.9% in 2024 (WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator NCD_BMI_30A, ages 18 and over), against a global 16% in 2022 (opens in a new tab). Physical inactivity was 9.4% in 2022 (indicator NCD_PAA, ages 18 and over), against a global 31% in the same year. The weight and physical activity page sets out what those prevalences show.

If you notice a change in a breast

A change that is new, or that has persisted, is a reason to be seen rather than watched. Two things are usually asked first: when it started, and whether it has changed since. Signs and symptoms covers how to go about that.

Ethiopia reported to WHO in 2021 that a national breast cancer screening programme exists (Global Health Observatory, indicator NCD_CCS_breastcancerscreening). At the facility where you are seen, these questions are worth asking. Is breast examination or screening offered there? What assessment follows if something is found? Where is that assessment done, how long does it take, and what does it cost?

What this means in Ethiopia

Breast cancer is the largest single cancer in Ethiopia’s 2024 estimates, by cases and by deaths. It is 36.0% of everything estimated in Ethiopian women (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2024). Alcohol is the exposure with sufficient evidence behind it among those covered here. That makes reducing heavy drinking the one prevention step this page can put a source against.

The rest of what a reader can act on sits after a change is noticed. That means going promptly, describing it clearly, and asking at the point of care what happens next.

What you can do

  • Take a change you have noticed in a breast to a health worker. A change that has not settled is a reason to go back rather than to wait longer.
  • Ask what assessment is available where you are seen, and what happens next. Whether it is done there or elsewhere, how long it takes and what it costs are worth establishing before travelling.
  • If you drink alcohol, reducing heavy drinking occasions is the change with established evidence behind it for breast cancer. Food and alcohol sets out what the classification does and does not say.
  • Read breast awareness for the same ground from the early detection side.