The number of people living with diabetes has soared by nearly 60% in the past decade, Diabetes UK warns.
The charity said more than 3.3 million people have some form of the condition, up from 2.1 million in 2005.
The inability to control the level of sugar in the blood can lead to blindness and amputations and is a massive drain on NHS resources.
Diabetes UK called for the NHS to improve care for patients and for greater efforts to prevent diabetes.
Roughly 90% of cases are type 2 diabetes, which is the form closely linked to diet and obesity.
People with type 1 generally develop it in childhood and are unable to produce the hormone insulin to control their blood sugar levels.
