Subtypes of oesophageal and gastric cancer in Denmark are compared with respect to their occurrence in men and in women, and in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, versus the rest of Denmark. Three categories of tumours can be distinguished epidemiologically: oesophageal squamous carcinoma, oesophageal and cardial adenocarcinoma, and distal gastric cancer. Comparison of information reported to the Danish Cancer Registry and cause of death as indicated on death certificates suggests that considerable misclassification between subtypes of tumours occurs. The Danish experience supports the findings from other populations of increasing incidence of oesophageal and cardial adenocarcinoma, but because of possible changes in diagnoses over time and of misclassification of subtypes, the data must be interpreted with caution.