T1D Index estimates for 2025 · IDF Africa region · Lower-Middle-Income country
An estimated 5,866 people are living with type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe in 2025. Each year about 780 people are newly diagnosed and 429 people with T1D die. A further 8,801 people would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes.
People living with T1D
5,866
New diagnoses this year
780
Deaths this year
429
Missing people
8,801
Expected age at death, diagnosed at 10
27.2years
How many people have type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe?
5,866 people in Zimbabwe are living with type 1 diabetes in 2025, or 34.6 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. Zimbabwe has the 108th-largest number of people living with T1D of the 202 countries in the T1D Index, and the 20th-largest of the 49 countries in the IDF Africa region.
For every 100 people living with T1D in Zimbabwe, another 150 are missing: people who would be alive today had they not died early from T1D.
Is type 1 diabetes increasing in Zimbabwe?
The number of people living with T1D in Zimbabwe went from 1,312 in 2000 to 5,866 in 2025, and is projected to rise to 13,015 by 2040 (+122%).
People living with type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe, 2000–2040. Solid line: modelled estimates to 2025; dashed line: projection to 2040.
Type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe over time, all ages
Year
Living with T1D
New diagnoses
Deaths
Missing people
2000
1,312
272
287
3,355
2010
2,274
408
327
5,305
2020
4,194
612
348
7,446
2025
5,866
780
429
8,801
2030 (projected)
8,184
1,074
591
10,717
2040 (projected)
13,015
1,239
812
16,142
What is the life expectancy with type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe?
A 10-year-old diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe today is expected to live to 27.2, compared with 66.5 for a 10-year-old without T1D: 39.3 years of life lost. Counting years lived with complications as well, T1D costs 41.4 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 16.1 years.
Healthy years of life for a 10-year-old diagnosed with T1D in Zimbabwe, 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
–
25.0
41.4
+ Timely diagnosis for everyone
+3.4
28.4
38.1
+ Insulin and test strips for everyone
+15.1
43.5
23.0
+ Insulin pumps and CGMs for everyone
+6.9
50.4
16.1
How does Zimbabwe compare?
Type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe compared with the Africa region and the world, 2025
2025
Zimbabwe
Africa
World
People living with T1D per 100,000
34.6
29.7
115.5
New diagnoses per 100,000
4.6
4.0
6.2
Missing people per 100 living with T1D
150.0
160.4
43.0
Expected age at death, 10-year-old with T1D
27.2
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.
