Oropharyngeal cancer incidence and mortality rates increased in Scotland between the early seventies and late eighties. Although these increases appeared to be cohort based, they were at that time confined to younger age groups. The aim of this study was to examine recent time trends in the incidence and mortality of oropharyngeal cancers in Scotland to determine whether previous increases in incidence and mortality had continued. Oropharyngeal cancer mortality rates in Scotland between 1950 and 1998 were analysed using data from the World Health Organisation Mortality Database. Incidence trends were analysed using cancer registration data for Scotland for the period 1965-1997. Between 1989 and 1996, incidence rates for oropharyngeal cancers have risen dramatically in males (18-23.6 per 100,000) and females (7.3-8.5 per 100,000) aged 35-64 years, while age-standardised mortality rates appear to have stabilised. Although oropharyngeal cancer incidence rates continue to rise alarmingly, these increases are not necessarily translated into higher mortality rates as had been suggested by results from earlier studies.