The number of people in the diabetes is increasing rapdily. Experts are clear to indicate that the growing obesity problem was overwhelmingly responsible for the rise.
The figure was compiled from English GP records and data from diabetes UK for the other nations.
The figure was a quarter of a million higher than previous estimates.
Diabetes UK estimates that there are 148,000 cases of diabetes in Scotland, 47,000 in Northern Ireland, and 92,000 in Wales. This figure was combined and added to Department of health data that revealed some 1,766,391 cases in England.
Obesity figures vary, but some experts believe that as many as 65 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women in the UK are overweight or obese.
