Background The global status of women ' s health is underestimated, particularly the burden on women of childbearing age (WCBA). We aim to investigate the pattern and trend of female cancers among WCBA from 1990 to 2021. Methods We retrieved data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021 on the incidence and disabilityadjusted life -years (DALYs) of four major female cancers (breast, cervical, uterine, and ovarian cancer) among WCBA (15 - 49 years) in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) in the age -standardised incidence and DALY rates of female cancers, by age and socio-demographic index (SDI), were calculated to quantify the temporal trends. Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between age -standardised rates and SDI. Findings In 2021, an estimated 1,013,475 new cases of overall female cancers were reported globally, with a signi fi cant increase in age -standardised incidence rate (EAPC 0.16%), and a decrease in age -standardised DALY rate ( - 0.73%) from 1990 to 2021. Annual increase trends of age -standardised incidence rate were observed in all cancers, except for that in cervical cancer. Contrary, the age -standardised DALY rate decreased in all cancers. Breast and cervical cancers were prevalent among WCBA worldwide, followed by ovarian and uterine cancers, with regional disparities in the burden of four female cancers. In addition, the age -standardised incidence rates of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers basically showed a consistent upward trend with increasing SDI, while both the agestandardised incidence and DALY rates in cervical cancer exhibited downward trends with SDI. Age -speci fi c rates of female cancers increased with age in 2021, with the most signi fi cant changes observed in younger age groups, except for uterine cancer. Interpretation The rising global incidence of female cancers, coupled with regional variations in DALYs, underscores the urgent need for innovative prevention and healthcare strategies to mitigate the burden among WCBA worldwide. Funding This study was supported by the Science Foundation for Young Scholars of Sichuan Provincial People ' s Hospital (NO. 2022QN44 and NO. 2022QN18); the Key R&D Projects of Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology (NO. 2023YFS0196); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82303701). Copyright (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY -NC -ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).