Countries: who is doing the most cancer research
Oncology research output by country from OpenAlex (2021–2025), with growth, highly cited share, open access, ClinicalTrials.gov sites, cancer burden, and the national funder. Ranked by a disclosed composite score. In 2025 the leaders by volume were United States, China, United Kingdom.
67 of 214 countries
| # | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China CN National Natural Science Foundation of China; NHC / NMPA programmes · NSFC total ≈ CN¥ 33 billion (2023), all fields | 17,535 | +52% | 4% | 72% | 54,606 | 22 | 202 / 129 | 75.7 |
| 2 | United States US National Cancer Institute (NIH) · ≈ $7.2 billion (FY2024) | 23,279 | +0% | 4% | 64% | 195,124 | 129 | 367 / 82 | 73.2 |
| 3 | Netherlands NL KWF Dutch Cancer Society; ZonMw · KWF ≈ €150 million/year | 1,913 | -4% | 7% | 81% | 15,139 | 9 | 349 / 108 | 69.2 |
| 4 | Belgium BE Fondation contre le Cancer / Kom op tegen Kanker; FWO / FNRS | 1,353 | +25% | 7% | 76% | 15,198 | 10 | 360 / 97 | 68.8 |
| 5 | Switzerland CH Swiss Cancer Research; SNSF · Swiss Cancer Research ≈ CHF 30 million/year | 1,469 | +2% | 7% | 75% | 10,670 | 11 | 323 / 84 | 68.2 |
| 6 | Germany DE DKFZ (Helmholtz) / BMBF; Deutsche Krebshilfe; DFG · DKFZ ≈ €400 million/year | 4,230 | -4% | 6% | 69% | 28,511 | 21 | 313 / 95 | 68.1 |
| 7 | United Kingdom GB Cancer Research UK; NIHR; MRC · CRUK ≈ £400+ million research spend (2023/24) | 5,201 | -19% | 5% | 72% | 28,841 | 31 | 307 / 100 | 67.3 |
| 8 | Italy IT AIRC; Ministero della Salute · AIRC ≈ €140 million/year | 3,890 | -17% | 5% | 71% | 26,087 | 13 | 296 / 95 | 67.1 |
| 9 | France FR Institut National du Cancer (INCa); Inserm; ARC Foundation · INCa ≈ €100+ million/year for research | 3,121 | -6% | 6% | 63% | 42,896 | 18 | 341 / 96 | 67 |
| 10 | Spain ES Instituto de Salud Carlos III; AECC · AECC ≈ €100 million committed research | 2,955 | -7% | 5% | 68% | 25,467 | 12 | 289 / 91 | 65.3 |
| 11 | Hong Kong HK | 662 | +22% | 7% | 72% | 5,212 | 2 | — | 64.9 |
| 12 | United Arab Emirates AE | 263 | +101% | 7% | 72% | 610 | 2 | — | 64.8 |
| 13 | Australia AU NHMRC; Medical Research Future Fund; Cancer Australia · MRFF ≈ A$ 650 million/year, all fields | 2,216 | -11% | 6% | 70% | 12,457 | 16 | 462 / 88 | 64.5 |
| 14 | Canada CA CIHR; Canadian Cancer Society; Terry Fox Research Institute · CIHR ≈ C$ 1.3 billion (2024-25), all fields | 2,497 | -3% | 5% | 68% | 32,451 | 14 | 348 / 89 | 64.5 |
| 15 | Singapore SG National Medical Research Council (NMRC) | 576 | +18% | 7% | 69% | 4,090 | 2 | 240 / 78 | 64 |
| 16 | Sweden SE Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden); Swedish Research Council · Cancerfonden ≈ SEK 1 billion/year | 954 | +3% | 6% | 80% | 9,777 | 5 | 312 / 88 | 62.8 |
| 17 | Israel IL Israel Cancer Association; Israel Science Foundation | 685 | -5% | 7% | 67% | 13,935 | 6 | 262 / 76 | 62.3 |
| 18 | Poland PL National Science Centre; Medical Research Agency | 1,089 | +8% | 5% | 80% | 11,608 | 1 | 262 / 128 | 62.1 |
| 19 | Denmark DK Danish Cancer Society; Novo Nordisk Foundation · Danish Cancer Society ≈ DKK 400 million/year | 797 | +3% | 6% | 77% | 12,732 | 2 | 375 / 110 | 61.9 |
| 20 | Saudi Arabia SA King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology; Ministry of Health | 957 | +32% | 6% | 71% | 1,744 | 1 | 122 / 56 | 61.8 |
| 21 | Bangladesh BD | 469 | +124% | 4% | 70% | 823 | — | — | 61.7 |
| 22 | Pakistan PK | 1,023 | +78% | 3% | 73% | 6,058 | — | — | 61.5 |
| 23 | South Korea KR KHIDI / Ministry of Health and Welfare; NRF · National Cancer Control programme; NRF ≈ ₩ 9 trillion (2024), all fields | 2,095 | -3% | 4% | 73% | 17,673 | 7 | 300 / 72 | 60.6 |
| 24 | Austria AT FWF; Austrian Cancer Aid | 628 | -12% | 6% | 74% | 7,754 | 4 | 298 / 92 | 60.2 |
| 25 | Norway NO Norwegian Cancer Society; Research Council of Norway | 520 | -7% | 6% | 77% | 5,761 | 1 | 358 / 95 | 59.9 |
| 26 | Ethiopia ET | 327 | +46% | 6% | 79% | 364 | — | — | 59.7 |
| 27 | Hungary HU | 438 | +38% | 5% | 79% | 5,872 | 1 | — | 59.3 |
| 28 | Japan JP AMED; JSPS; National Cancer Center · AMED ≈ ¥ 140 billion (FY2024), all fields | 4,604 | -7% | 3% | 68% | 9,840 | 17 | 267 / 82 | 59.3 |
| 29 | Egypt EG Academy of Scientific Research and Technology | 893 | +8% | 4% | 67% | 17,478 | 2 | 159 / 99 | 58.3 |
| 30 | Iraq IQ | 521 | +118% | 2% | 79% | 507 | — | — | 58.2 |
| 31 | India IN ICMR; DBT; Department of Atomic Energy (Tata Memorial) · ICMR ≈ ₹ 2,700 crore (2024-25), all fields | 5,149 | +8% | 2% | 54% | 6,609 | 12 | 100 / 65 | 57.3 |
| 32 | Türkiye TR TÜBİTAK; Ministry of Health | 2,209 | +20% | 2% | 72% | 26,123 | 2 | 231 / 106 | 57.2 |
| 33 | Taiwan TW National Science and Technology Council; Ministry of Health and Welfare | 912 | +4% | 4% | 71% | 12,924 | 4 | 292 / 105 | 56.9 |
| 34 | South Africa ZA | 436 | +17% | 5% | 78% | 3,864 | 2 | — | 56.8 |
| 35 | Finland FI | 395 | +16% | 5% | 81% | 4,351 | 1 | — | 56.6 |
| 36 | Chile CL | 308 | +11% | 6% | 74% | 2,849 | 1 | — | 56.5 |
| 37 | Jordan JO | 296 | +135% | 2% | 67% | 934 | 1 | — | 56.2 |
| 38 | Czechia CZ | 453 | +4% | 5% | 76% | 7,039 | 2 | — | 56.1 |
| 39 | Greece GR Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation | 645 | -2% | 5% | 73% | 5,304 | — | 273 / 108 | 56.1 |
| 40 | Brazil BR INCA; CNPq; FAPESP · FAPESP ≈ R$ 1.9 billion (2024), all fields | 1,672 | +3% | 3% | 77% | 11,657 | 7 | 216 / 88 | 56 |
| 41 | Romania RO | 475 | +26% | 4% | 83% | 3,681 | — | — | 55.9 |
| 42 | Iran IR Ministry of Health and Medical Education; NIMAD | 1,225 | -3% | 4% | 67% | 1,463 | 1 | 159 / 87 | 55 |
| 43 | Ireland IE | 580 | -1% | 4% | 74% | 3,141 | 1 | — | 54.7 |
| 44 | Portugal PT FCT; Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro | 566 | -16% | 4% | 75% | 3,980 | 3 | 300 / 100 | 53.7 |
| 45 | Malaysia MY | 499 | +25% | 4% | 71% | 2,618 | 1 | — | 53.5 |
| 46 | Russia RU Russian Science Foundation; Ministry of Health | 1,094 | -7% | 3% | 71% | 6,893 | — | 233 / 114 | 53.2 |
| 47 | Thailand TH | 383 | +24% | 3% | 75% | 4,324 | 3 | — | 52.7 |
| 48 | Mexico MX CONAHCYT; Instituto Nacional de Cancerología | 527 | +18% | 2% | 77% | 7,890 | 2 | 141 / 65 | 51.5 |
| 49 | Indonesia ID | 782 | +34% | 1% | 87% | 1,713 | 1 | — | 50.4 |
| 50 | New Zealand NZ | 251 | -16% | 4% | 67% | 2,918 | 1 | — | 50.4 |
| 51 | Ukraine UA | 262 | +19% | 3% | 80% | 2,715 | — | — | 50.2 |
| 52 | Argentina AR | 286 | -9% | 4% | 73% | 4,776 | 1 | — | 50 |
| 53 | Vietnam VN | 233 | +61% | 2% | 71% | 1,304 | 2 | — | 49.6 |
| 54 | Croatia HR | 158 | -12% | 4% | 81% | 1,719 | — | — | 47.3 |
| 55 | Nigeria NG | 356 | +35% | 2% | 81% | 459 | 1 | — | 46.9 |
| 56 | Serbia RS | 199 | +5% | 3% | 78% | 1,890 | — | — | 46.4 |
| 57 | Philippines PH | 165 | +27% | 2% | 75% | 1,353 | 1 | — | 45.8 |
| 58 | Morocco MA | 330 | +57% | 1% | 72% | 178 | 1 | — | 45.6 |
| 59 | Puerto Rico PR | 148 | +92% | 4% | 63% | — | — | — | 45.5 |
| 60 | Colombia CO | 283 | -7% | 2% | 78% | 2,308 | 1 | — | 44.1 |
| 61 | Qatar QA | 148 | +3% | 6% | 80% | — | 1 | — | 43.5 |
| 62 | Lebanon LB | 133 | -7% | 5% | 70% | — | — | — | 40.9 |
| 63 | Tunisia TN | 209 | +19% | 1% | 59% | 655 | 1 | — | 38.6 |
| 64 | Slovenia SI | 137 | -10% | 4% | 81% | — | 1 | — | 37.6 |
| 65 | Bulgaria BG | 158 | +35% | 2% | 84% | — | — | — | 36.2 |
| 66 | Nepal NP | 140 | +9% | 2% | 82% | — | — | — | 33.4 |
| 67 | Peru PE | 129 | 0% | 2% | 79% | — | 1 | — | 33.2 |
Hover a score for its breakdown. Per-capita mode needs a population figure (top ~30 countries have one); others keep absolute values.
How the score works
Research intensity (0–100) = 40% works in 2025 (log-scaled against the leader) + 20% highly cited share (works with more than 50 citations, 2021–2025, scaled to the best country with at least 500 works) + 15% five-year growth (capped at +150%) + 15% registered trials with a site in the country (log-scaled) + 10% open-access share. Per-capita mode divides works and trials by population in millions. The formula is deliberately simple; argue with it in the repository.
Counting rules and caveats
- Whole counting. OpenAlex credits a work to every country among its authors' affiliations, so international papers count once per participating country and totals exceed the true number of works. Fractional counting (as in Nature Index) would lower the totals of highly collaborative countries such as the UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland.
- Topic assignment. Works are those whose primary OpenAlex topic falls in subfield 2730, Oncology. Cancer biology published under genetics, immunology, or radiology subfields is not counted; clinical oncology dominates.
- Language and indexing bias. OpenAlex indexes English-language journals most completely; Chinese-, Japanese-, and Russian-language output is under-represented, and China's counted share has risen partly because more of its journals are now indexed.
- Citations lag. The highly cited share uses a fixed threshold (more than 50 citations) over five years, which favours earlier years; 2025 papers have had little time to accrue citations.
- Trials. ClinicalTrials.gov counts every registered study with at least one site in the country, all statuses and all conditions where the registry lists the location; it is a proxy for clinical research capacity, not cancer trials alone, and under-counts countries whose trials register elsewhere (EU CTIS, ChiCTR, CTRI, jRCT).
- Burden and funding. Incidence and mortality are GLOBOCAN 2022 age-standardised rates per 100,000; funder budgets are approximate and mix cancer-specific and all-field figures, as labelled.
Sources
- OpenAlex works API: OpenAlex works, primary_topic.subfield 2730 (Oncology), group_by authorships.countries (whole counting); ClinicalTrials.gov v2 query.locn counts. Data built 2026-09-08; rebuild with
npm run fetch:countries. - ClinicalTrials.gov API v2,
query.locncounts. - IARC Global Cancer Observatory, GLOBOCAN 2022 country fact sheets.
- World Bank population, 2024 estimates; national funder websites as linked in each row.
- Cross-checks: Nature Index country outputs (fractional counting, 145 journals) and SCImago country rank, Oncology.