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Australians living in poorer areas are 40 per cent more likely to die from cancer, the latest government statistics show.
People living in the wealthiest areas of Australia have a mortality rate of 130 in every 100,000 people, compared to 185 per 100,000 in poorer areas, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Cancer in Australia 2021 report shows.
People in poorer areas are also twice as likely to die from lung cancer, the report found.
Indigenous Australians are 45 per cent more likely to die than non-Indigenous - 230 and 159 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively.
New figures show noticeable gaps in cancer survival rates depending on factors such as wealth, sex, race and address.
And people living in remote areas were 27 per cent more likely to die, with fatality rates in major cities at 151 per 100,000 but 191 in 100,000 in remote areas.
However, the overall cancer mortality rates across Australia have fallen sharply over the past generation, the report found.
Between 1989 and 2021, mortality rates have declined from 287 to 182 per 100,000 for men and 165 to 122 for women.
