T1D Index estimates for 2025 · IDF Africa region · Upper-Middle-Income country
An estimated 32,253 people are living with type 1 diabetes in South Africa in 2025. Each year about 2,774 people are newly diagnosed and 1,306 people with T1D die. A further 35,882 people would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes.
People living with T1D
32,253
New diagnoses this year
2,774
Deaths this year
1,306
Missing people
35,882
Expected age at death, diagnosed at 10
36.0years
How many people have type 1 diabetes in South Africa?
32,253 people in South Africa are living with type 1 diabetes in 2025, or 49.8 per 100,000 people. That is higher than the Africa average of 29.7 per 100,000 and lower than the global average of 115.5. South Africa has the 41st-largest number of people living with T1D of the 202 countries in the T1D Index, and the 2nd-largest of the 49 countries in the IDF Africa region.
For every 100 people living with T1D in South Africa, another 111 are missing: people who would be alive today had they not died early from T1D.
Is type 1 diabetes increasing in South Africa?
The number of people living with T1D in South Africa went from 7,576 in 2000 to 32,253 in 2025, and is projected to rise to 58,542 by 2040 (+82%).
People living with type 1 diabetes in South Africa, 2000–2040. Solid line: modelled estimates to 2025; dashed line: projection to 2040.
Type 1 diabetes in South Africa over time, all ages
Year
Living with T1D
New diagnoses
Deaths
Missing people
2000
7,576
1,028
955
12,343
2010
12,285
1,660
1,063
21,820
2020
24,398
2,313
1,130
30,871
2025
32,253
2,774
1,306
35,882
2030 (projected)
41,128
3,577
1,693
41,204
2040 (projected)
58,542
3,857
2,291
54,846
What is the life expectancy with type 1 diabetes in South Africa?
A 10-year-old diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in South Africa today is expected to live to 36.0, compared with 68.7 for a 10-year-old without T1D: 32.8 years of life lost. Counting years lived with complications as well, T1D costs 36.2 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 17.0 years.
Healthy years of life for a 10-year-old diagnosed with T1D in South Africa, as each level of care is added in turn
Level of care
Healthy years restored
Healthy years of life
Healthy years still lost
Current level of care
–
32.5
36.2
+ Timely diagnosis for everyone
+4.3
36.8
31.9
+ Insulin and test strips for everyone
+7.6
44.4
24.3
+ Insulin pumps and CGMs for everyone
+7.4
51.8
17.0
How does South Africa compare?
Type 1 diabetes in South Africa compared with the Africa region and the world, 2025
2025
South Africa
Africa
World
People living with T1D per 100,000
49.8
29.7
115.5
New diagnoses per 100,000
4.3
4.0
6.2
Missing people per 100 living with T1D
111.3
160.4
43.0
Expected age at death, 10-year-old with T1D
36.0
24.4
51.3
Expected age at death, 10-year-old in general population
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.
