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The Cost of Breast Cancer: 2025 Update

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Published 04 Sept 2025

1 min read

2 years after Demos and Breast Cancer Now first revealed the shocking cost of breast cancer, our new report exposes a worsening situation. The scale of the challenge in tackling breast cancer and the urgent need for action is growing.

Read the full report

The costs

£3.2 to £3.5 billion in 2025

...is what breast cancer is already costing the UK economy.

£4.2 billion

...is what the annual cost of breast cancer to the UK economy could reach in 2050. That's an increase of up to 31%.

£24.5 billion in 2050

...is the projected wellbeing cost of breast cancer, rising from £20.2 billion in 2025. That's 6 times higher than the estimated economic costs.

Crucially, updated evidence and modelling now allows Demos and Breast Cancer Now to demonstrate how improving breast screening uptake and addressing health inequalities could address the severe human and financial impacts of breast cancer in the UK.

In 2025, improving NHS breast screening uptake to 80% across the UK could generate an estimated...

£158 to £185 million

...in economic savings

£1.6 billion

...in wellbeing gains

Tackling health inequalities in breast cancer diagnosis could save around...

2,000 lives a year in ethnic minority communities

...and save £180 to £250 million in 2025

3,200 lives a year in the most deprived areas

...and save £327 to £389 million in 2025

Breast cancer is so far from a done deal. Our new report exposes the growing scale of the problem, and the human and economic prices being paid - with far too many lives tragically being lost to this devastating disease.

Claire Rowney
Chief executive at Breast Cancer Now