Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Diabetes can lead to serious complications and premature death, but people with diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications.

• 20.8 million Americans have diabetes — 7.0 percent of the U.S. population. Of these, 6.2 million do not know they have the disease.1

• Each year, about 1.5 million people ages 20 or older are diagnosed with diabetes.1

• The number of people diagnosed with diabetes has risen from 1.5 million in 1958 to 14.6 million in 2005, an increase of epidemic proportions.1

• Type 1 (previously called insulin-dependent or juvenile-onset) diabetes accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.1

• Type 2 (previously called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset) diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.1 Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents.

• 10.9 million men have diabetes (10.5 percent of all men ages 20 years and older).1

• 9.7 million women have diabetes (8.8 percent of all women ages 20 years and older).1

• 20.6 million Americans ages 20 or older have diabetes — 9.6 percent of this age group.1

• 10.3 million Americans ages 60 or older have diabetes — 20.9 percent of this age group.1

• 176,500 people under age 20 have diabetes – 0.22 percent of this age group. 1

• 13.1 million; 8.7 percent of all non-Hispanic whites aged 20 and older have diabetes 1

• 3.2 million; 13.3 percent of all non-Hispanic blacks aged twenty and older have diabetes 1

• Non-Hispanic blacks are 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites of similar age.1

• On average, about 2.5 million; 9.5 percent of Hispanic and Latino Americans ages 20 or older have diabetes 1

• On average, Mexican Americans are 1.7 times more likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites of similar age.1

• Residents of Puerto Rico are 1.8 times more likely to have diagnosed diabetes than U.S. non-Hispanic whites.

• Prevalence data for diabetes among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are limited. Some groups within this population are at increased risk for diabetes.1

• In Hawaii, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders ages 20 years or older are more than 2 times as likely to have diagnosed diabetes as white residents of Hawaii of similar age.1

• American Indians and Alaska Natives on average are 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites. 1

• About 15.1 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 20 years and older and receiving care from the Indian Health Service (IHS) have diabetes. 1

• Diabetes is least common among Alaska Natives (8.1%) and most common among American Indians in the southern U.S. and southern Arizona (26.7% and 27.6% respectively).1

• Diabetes was the 6th leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2002.1

• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among people with diabetes — about 65 percent die of heart disease or stroke.1

• Overall risk for death among people with diabetes is about 2 times that of people without diabetes.

Diabetes Snapshot (pdf)
4 Steps to Control your Diabetes for Life (pdf)

National Diabetes Education Program (website)
American Diabetes Association (website)

 

information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2005. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Health, 2005.