Data on lethal cases of diabetes mellitus which occurred before January 1, 1992 were recorded. The total number of diabetics in Leninsky district of Moscow was 1729, 86 of them with insulin-dependent and 1643 with noninsulindependent disease. Diabetes prevalence in the district was 2.4 %, that of insulin-dependent condition being 0.12 % and of noninsulin-dependent one 2.3 %. Various complications were detected in the majority of diabetics, microangiopathies (retinopathies, neuropathies) being the most incident in patients with insulin-dependent disease and macroangiopathies (coronary disease, arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, brain stroke) predominating in patients with noninsulin-dependent disease. Cardiovascular diseases and involvement of the peripheral vessels were the most frequent causes of death of patients with both conditions.