Study in The Lancet medical journal predicts staggering 1.3bn adults will have diabetes by 2050

According to research, rapidly rising obesity levels and widening health inequalities will combine to more than double the number of adults living with diabetes worldwide by 2050.

The findings published in The Lancet medical journal and fellow publication The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, estimate that the number of those suffering from the disease globally is set to rise dramatically from an estimated 529 million in 2021 to more than 1.3 billion by 2050.

The research shows that diabetes is outpacing most diseases globally with experts describing the data as alarming.

The expected surge in diabetes patients presents a significant threat to people and health systems globally.

Menwhile, the UN has predicted that by 2050 the world’s population will be about 9.8 billion.

This suggests that by then between one in seven and one in eight people will be living with diabetes.

The research authors wrote: “Type 2 diabetes, which makes up the bulk of diabetes cases, is largely preventable and, in some cases, potentially reversible if identified and managed early in the disease course.

"However, all evidence indicates that diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, primarily due to a rise in obesity caused by multiple factors.”

People from marginalised communities are less likely to have access to essential medicines such as insulin, and have worse blood sugar control, a lower quality of life and reduced life expectancy, as the findings in much respect medical journal The Lancet underlined.