All patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma in Western Australia have been registered since 1960; 337 men and 280 women were registered in the period 1960-84. During this period there was a 25% increase in incidence. Age adjusted incidence rates rose from 2.34 per 100,000 person years in men and 1.64 in women during the decade 1960-69 to 2.95 in men and 1.92 in women in 1980-84. Overall, the incidence was 1.36 times higher in men than in women (95% confidence interval 1.16-1.59). Survival from multiple myeloma improved substantially during the period. In 1960-69, median survival for both sexes was six months, in 1970-79 it was 19 months, and in 1980-84 median survival in men was 43 months while in women it was at least five years.