The number of people living with diabetes in Wales is rising faster than previously projected, new data from NHS Wales has revealed.

The latest figures for 2025 show that 230,371 people aged 17 and over in Wales are now living with diabetes — an increase of 7,685 people, or 3.5 per cent, in a single year (222,686 in 2024).

This rate of growth significantly outpaces projections made by Public Health Wales in 2021/22, which forecast that Wales would reach 260,000 – or one in 11 people diagnosed as living with diabetes by 2035.

At current rates of growth, that milestone could arrive considerably earlier.

A further 269,747 people in Wales are estimated to be living with prediabetes — placing them at very high risk of developing the condition — and an estimated 58,906 people are living with undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes, unaware of the damage that may already be occurring.

In total, approximately one in five adults in Wales is currently living with diabetes or prediabetes.

Type 2 diabetes accounts for most cases.

Left unmanaged, it can lead to serious complications including sight loss, kidney disease, nerve damage, and cardiovascular disease — robbing people of their independence, their quality of life, and in too many cases, years of their lives.

The condition disproportionately affects people living in areas of greater social and economic challenge and those from South Asian, Black African, and Black Caribbean backgrounds, deepening existing health inequalities across Wales.

However, with early action, Type 2 diabetes can often be prevented entirely. For those already living with the condition, remission may be possible — and with the right knowledge and support, people can live well with diabetes and avoid the complications that previous generations experienced as inevitable.

Public Health Wales and Diabetes UK Cymru is coming together to urge people across Wales to search; lower my type 2 diabetes risk Wales, so they can take the free Diabetes UK Know Your Risk tool as a first step, and then get further information and support on a range of services that can help lower their risk of Type 2 diabetes, such as the All Wales Diabetes Prevention Programme (AWDPP), Healthy Weight Healthy You offer, Let’s Prevent app and Diabetes Resource webpages.

David Taylor, Transformation Director at the Tackling Diabetes Together Programme, Public Health Wales, said: “This rapid increase of people now being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is a national crisis for Wales, but thankfully it is one we can respond to.

“Being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is never about it being that person’s fault, but often, if that person had had access to the right information and was given the support they needed early enough, then lowering their risk, pushing their diagnosis back or reducing future complications if diagnosed, are all very real possibilities.

“We want to support people to live long and healthy lives in Wales and to do this we need to increase public knowledge of both risk – and how to reduce this risk.”