Type 1 diabetes in Puerto Rico
T1D Index estimates for 2025 · IDF South and Central America region · High-Income country
An estimated 2,798 people are living with type 1 diabetes in Puerto Rico in 2025. Each year about 135 people are newly diagnosed and 47 people with T1D die. A further 1,012 people would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes.
People living with T1D
2,798
New diagnoses this year
135
Deaths this year
47
Missing people
1,012
Expected age at death, diagnosed at 10
61.6years
How many people have type 1 diabetes in Puerto Rico?
2,798 people in Puerto Rico are living with type 1 diabetes in 2025, or 86.6 per 100,000 people. That is lower than the South and Central America average of 160.6 per 100,000 and lower than the global average of 115.5. Puerto Rico has the 130th-largest number of people living with T1D of the 202 countries in the T1D Index, and the 19th-largest of the 20 countries in the IDF South and Central America region.
For every 100 people living with T1D in Puerto Rico, another 36 are missing: people who would be alive today had they not died early from T1D.
Is type 1 diabetes increasing in Puerto Rico?
The number of people living with T1D in Puerto Rico went from 1,421 in 2000 to 2,798 in 2025, and is projected to rise to 3,569 by 2040 (+28%).
| Year | Living with T1D | New diagnoses | Deaths | Missing people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,421 | 106 | 25 | 417 |
| 2010 | 1,989 | 98 | 33 | 634 |
| 2020 | 2,405 | 128 | 45 | 858 |
| 2025 | 2,798 | 135 | 47 | 1,012 |
| 2030 (projected) | 3,145 | 155 | 65 | 1,180 |
| 2040 (projected) | 3,569 | 131 | 75 | 1,560 |
What is the life expectancy with type 1 diabetes in Puerto Rico?
A 10-year-old diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Puerto Rico today is expected to live to 61.6, compared with 82.7 for a 10-year-old without T1D: 21.0 years of life lost. Counting years lived with complications as well, T1D costs 33.8 years of healthy life at today's level of care. If everyone received timely diagnosis, insulin and test strips, and insulin pumps and CGMs, that loss would fall to 15.0 years.
| Level of care | Healthy years restored | Healthy years of life | Healthy years still lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current level of care | – | 48.8 | 33.8 |
| + Timely diagnosis for everyone | – | 48.8 | 33.9 |
| + Insulin and test strips for everyone | +10.9 | 59.7 | 22.9 |
| + Insulin pumps and CGMs for everyone | +7.9 | 67.6 | 15.0 |
How does Puerto Rico compare?
| 2025 | Puerto Rico | South and Central America | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| People living with T1D per 100,000 | 86.6 | 160.6 | 115.5 |
| New diagnoses per 100,000 | 4.2 | 9.0 | 6.2 |
| Missing people per 100 living with T1D | 36.2 | 45.8 | 43.0 |
| Expected age at death, 10-year-old with T1D | 61.6 | 52.4 | 51.3 |
| Expected age at death, 10-year-old in general population | 82.7 | 77.7 | 77.0 |
Type 1 diabetes in other South and Central America countries
- Paraguay6,219 living with T1D
- Nicaragua5,436 living with T1D
- El Salvador5,396 living with T1D
- Costa Rica4,956 living with T1D
- Panama4,100 living with T1D
- Bolivia3,404 living with T1D
- Uruguay3,229 living with T1D
- French Guiana288 living with T1D
More data
All figures are T1D Index version 3.0 estimates for all ages. Missing people are those who would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes. Expected age at death is for a 10-year-old. See Data & Methods for how the estimates are made and the peer-reviewed publications behind them.