The incidence of malignant tumors of the eye (ICD 172.1, 173.1 and 190) was calculated from the data of the National Cancer Registry of the GDR. Malignant tumors of the lid represent 1.4% and malignant tumors of the eye 0.3% of all malignant tumors registered. This corresponds to an incidence of intraocular tumors of about 1.0 per 100 000 inhabitants, and an incidence of lid tumors of approx. 4.7 per 100 000. The standardized incidence of malignant tumors of the eye shows no statistically significant change, at 0.85 (1966-1970) and 0.93 (1971-1980) in men and 0.70 and 0.73 in women. The incidence of melanomas of the lid is also unchanged in both sexes. The mean incidence of retinoblastoma in both boys and girls is 0.54 (1961-1980) based on 100 000 children less than 10 years old. The diminution in the incidence of retinoblastoma in recent years is not statistically significant.