Diabetes: key points

• Diabetes is an important cause of disability and increases the risk of coronary heart disease and other health problems. It is more common in deprived areas.
• After a sharp decrease from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in the rate of admissions where diabetes is the main diagnosis, there was an increase from 2020/21 to 2021/22.  As the impact of COVID-19 eased in the last year, we have seen an increase in the rate of admissions back towards pre-pandemic rates.
• The rate of deaths where diabetes was recorded as a contributory factor has decreased slightly from 147.2 per 100,00 in 2020 to 146.8 in 2021.
• The most recent Scottish Diabetes Survey (2020) estimates that there were over 317,000 people with a diagnosis of diabetes in Scotland in 2020, a crude prevalence of 5.8% (compared to 5.1% in 2013). This represents an increase of over 4,700 people since 2019.
• In 2020 there were close to 13,500 deaths of people who were diagnosed with diabetes.
• Type 1 diabetes often starts at a young age and is due to a lack of insulin. It accounts for 10-15% of all cases of diabetes (10.7% in Scotland in 2020). Type 2 diabetes starts with resistance to the action of insulin and is associated with older age, being overweight and obesity.
• The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing rapidly in Scotland, as in many other countries. The largest part of the increase in type 2 diabetes is likely to be due to poor diet (specifically excess energy intake), low levels of physical activity and the resulting increase in levels of obesity.
• Type 2 diabetes is much more common at older ages and the increase in the number of older people in Scotland also contributes to the increase in numbers of those with diabetes.
• In addition, it is thought that many cases of diabetes remain undiagnosed, around 10% of the total.
• The annual Scottish Diabetes Survey is the key source of information on diabetes in Scotland. The most recent survey (2020) is available from the publications section of the Diabetes in Scotland website.