About 589 million adults worldwide are living with diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation’s 2024 estimates. That’s roughly 1 in 9 adults between the ages of 20 and 79, making diabetes one of the fastest-growing health conditions on the planet. The number has surged over the past few decades and shows no signs of leveling off.
Global Prevalence at a Glance
The global prevalence of diabetes among adults stands at 11.1%. To put that growth in perspective, the estimated global population with diabetes was 463 million in 2019. In just five years, that figure jumped by more than 125 million people. Projections suggest the total could reach 700 million by 2045, a 51% increase from 2019 levels.
These numbers include all types of diabetes, but the vast majority of cases are Type 2. In a CDC analysis of diagnosed diabetes in the United States, Type 2 accounted for about 91% of all cases, Type 1 for roughly 6%, and the remaining fraction included rarer forms like gestational diabetes and other subtypes. That ratio holds broadly across other countries as well, meaning the global rise in diabetes is overwhelmingly driven by Type 2.
Diabetes in the United States
In the U.S., 40.1 million people have diabetes. That works out to about 1 in every 8 Americans. More than 1 in 4 adults with diabetes don’t know they have it, which means millions of people are walking around with elevated blood sugar causing damage to their blood vessels, nerves, and organs without any treatment.
This undiagnosed population matters because diabetes tends to cause the most harm when it goes unmanaged for years. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults with diabetes also has chronic kidney disease, and diabetes remains a leading driver of heart disease, vision loss, and lower-limb amputations. Many of these complications are preventable or can be slowed significantly with early detection.
Regions With the Highest Rates
Diabetes doesn’t affect every part of the world equally. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has the highest prevalence of any global region at 17.6%, well above the global average of 11.1%. Countries in this region face a combination of rapid urbanization, shifts toward processed diets, and high rates of physical inactivity that fuel Type 2 diabetes.
Sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, has lower overall prevalence but faces a different problem: extremely high rates of undiagnosed cases and limited access to insulin and other treatments. The challenges look different across income levels too. In high-income countries, about 41% of the economic burden of diabetes comes from direct treatment costs. In low-income countries, that share drops to just 14%, with lost labor and productivity making up a much larger portion of the toll.
Nearly Half of All Cases Go Undiagnosed
One of the most striking facts about global diabetes is how many people don’t know they have it. An estimated 252 million adults are living with undiagnosed diabetes, representing 43% of all cases worldwide. These individuals aren’t receiving treatment, aren’t monitoring their blood sugar, and in many cases aren’t aware that the fatigue, thirst, or blurred vision they experience has a treatable cause.
Undiagnosed diabetes is especially common in countries with weaker healthcare infrastructure, where routine blood sugar screening isn’t part of standard care. But it’s also prevalent in wealthier nations. In the U.S., more than 25% of people with diabetes remain undiagnosed despite widespread availability of simple blood tests. Type 2 diabetes develops gradually, and many people attribute early symptoms to aging or stress rather than a metabolic condition.
The Economic Scale of Diabetes
Diabetes is not just a health crisis. It is an economic one. A 2026 analysis from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis estimated that diabetes costs the global economy approximately $10 trillion per year when accounting for treatment expenses, lost productivity, disability, and premature death. That figure excludes informal caregiving provided by family members. When that unpaid care is included, the total economic burden climbs to as high as $152 trillion, or 1.7% of global GDP.
These costs fall unevenly. In wealthier countries, a large share goes toward medications, hospital stays, and ongoing monitoring. In lower-income countries, the economic damage shows up more in lost working years and reduced household income, because many people simply can’t access or afford treatment. For individuals, diabetes often means a lifetime of managing prescriptions, dietary changes, and medical appointments, all of which carry direct and indirect costs that compound over decades.
Why the Numbers Keep Rising
Several forces are driving the global increase. Populations are aging, and diabetes risk rises sharply after age 45. Urbanization in developing countries has shifted billions of people toward more sedentary lifestyles and diets higher in sugar and processed carbohydrates. Obesity rates have climbed in parallel with diabetes rates across nearly every region.
Better diagnostic tools and expanded screening also play a role. Some of the increase reflects cases that always existed but went uncounted. Still, even after adjusting for improved detection, the underlying rate of new cases continues to accelerate. The jump from 463 million in 2019 to 589 million in 2024 outpaced earlier projections, which had estimated the world wouldn’t reach 578 million until 2030. In other words, the global diabetes epidemic is arriving faster than experts anticipated just a few years ago.