To examine breast cancer burden in females using incidence, mortality and mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) and its association with human development.

We employ the data of breast cancer in females from the Global Burden of Disease 2016 study for the period 1990 to 2016 for 102 countries. Human development is measured using the human development index (HDI). 5-year survival rate of breast cancer is proxied using the mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR).

Globally, breast cancer has claimed 535341 female lives and 1.7 million incident cases had surfaced in 2016. High incidence rates were observed in very high HDI countries led by the Netherlands (117.2/100,000), whereas the mortality rate was high in low/medium HDI countries led by Afghanistan (35.4/100,000). Breast cancer incidence has more than doubled in 60/102 countries, whereas deaths have doubled in 43/102 countries. Globally, breast cancer MIR decreased from 0.41 to 0.32 over 1990–2016 and displayed negative gradient with HDI (r = − 0.87), indicating a low 5-year survival in less developed countries.

Heterogeneity in breast cancer burden, as per human development, and increasing breast cancer incidence and low survival rates, indicated by MIR, call for broader human development, improving breast cancer awareness, and cost-effective screening and treatment in less developed countries.