PurposeThe aim of this project was to provide an overview of the epidemiology of primary salivary gland carcinomas (SGC) in terms of incidence, distribution of clinicopathological features and survival in one of the largest cancer registries in Europe.MethodsData were collected from patients with SGC of the major salivary glands registered in the population-based state cancer registry (Landeskrebsregister LKR) in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany from 01/01/2009 to 12/31/2018. Age standardization of incidence was performed and relative survival estimates were computed by sex, histological group, age group and T-, N-, and M-stage.ResultsA total of 1680 patients were included in this analysis. The most frequent tumor localization was the parotid gland (78%). Adenocarcinoma (not otherwise specified) was the most common tumor entity (18.5%). Most tumors were found in stages T1–T3 (29% T1; 29% T2; 28% T3). The age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) for SGC was 0.65/100,000 and remained stable during the observation period. There was an age-dependent incidence increasing especially from the age 70 years and onwards. The overall 5-year relative survival (RS) for all patients with SGC was 69.2%. RS was 80–95.6% for T1–2 stage tumors, 60.3% for T3, 47.3% for T4 stage, 87.4% for N0 and 51.2% for N1–2, 74.4% for M0 and 44.9% for M1.ConclusionAge-standardized incidence for SGC has been stable for the observed 10-year period. Smaller tumors and those without lymph node or distant metastases had a better RS than more advanced tumors.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00432-022-04278-6.