More than 21,000 new cancer cases were diagnosed in Wales in 2022.
This is according to new figures published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU) at Public Health Wales.
The figures show that the number of cases has risen by almost a third since 2002, when around 16,000 cases were diagnosed.
Despite this increase in the number of cases, the figures show that cancer incidence rates have only increased by 1.2 per cent.
According to the report, this reflects previous cancer risk factors, such as smoking, obesity, and alcohol use, in various sections of society, which are caused by inequalities in socio-economic factors and other causes of ill health.
The report also shows that more than half of all new cancer cases in Wales in 2022 were in people aged 70 or older.
Despite the rise in cases, the report states that the incidence dropped during the first full year of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with the number of cases in 2022 suggesting a "partial return to pre-pandemic trends" and a "rebound of delayed diagnoses in some cancer types".
Along with the increase in the number of cases, the report shows that people living in the most deprived areas of Wales continue to experience higher rates of cancer than those in the least deprived areas.
The rate of cancer incidence in the most deprived fifth of the population was 20 per cent higher than in the least deprived fifth.
This gap has remained largely unchanged since 2006.
Professor Dyfed Wyn Huws, director of the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit at Public Health Wales, said: "The overall number of people being diagnosed with cancer in Wales has increased over the past two decades.
"This is due to changes in population size, population age structure and previous patterns of cancer risk factors affecting different groups in society over time.
"However, the persistent gap in cancer rates between our most and least deprived communities remains concerning."
The latest Cancer Incidence in Wales 2002–2022 report has carried out new analysis of stage at diagnosis by area deprivation, showing that the level of area deprivation is associated with the stage at which cancer is diagnosed.
The rates of late-stage lung cancer and bowel cancer diagnoses were higher than early-stage across all levels of area deprivation.
These differences were wider in the most deprived areas, especially for lung cancer.
The report includes new analysis on the incidence of neuroendocrine cancers and small cell lung cancer, with the aim of establishing a baseline for the future.