Comorbidity of chronic kidney disease

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Prevalence of chronic kidney disease, diabetes and heart, stroke and vascular disease

In 2022–24, an estimated 4.1 million Australian adults (21%) were living with diabetes, chronic kidney disease and/or heart, stroke and vascular disease.

Comorbidities of people receiving kidney replacement therapy

In 2024, 50% of people who started receiving kidney replacement therapy were living with diabetes.

What is multimorbidity and comorbidity?

Many people with chronic health conditions do not have a single, predominant condition. Rather, they experience multimorbidity – the presence of 2 or more chronic conditions in a person at the same time (AIHW 2025).

The health effect of multimorbidity can be greater than the combined effect of individual conditions. People with multimorbidity often have more severe illness and use more health services, including increased contact with primary health care services, with more complex hospitalisations and poorer outcomes.

The additional health conditions experienced by a person who has chronic kidney disease (CKD) is known as comorbidity. Diabetes and heart, stroke and vascular disease are common comorbidities among people with CKD (AIHW 2007, 2014). On this web page, much of the focus is on the comorbidity of CKD in combination with diabetes and/or heart, stroke and vascular disease.

An ageing population, along with unfavourable trends in some risk factors and a high prevalence of chronic disease in the community is expected to result in a rise in the number of people with CKD comorbidity, and higher rates of CKD among people with other chronic conditions.

Based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2022 National Health Survey (NHS), an estimated 246,000 Australians self-reported chronic kidney disease (CKD) as a long-term condition.  Most people with self-reported CKD (80%) also had at least 1 of 9 other selected chronic conditions (ABS 2023).

Prevalence of chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and heart, stroke and vascular disease

Based on measurement data from the ABS 2022–24 National Health Measures Survey, an estimated 4.1 million Australian adults aged 18 and over (21%) had biomedical signs of CKD, diabetes, or heart, stroke and vascular disease (AIHW analysis of ABS 2025). Of these, 3.1 million (16% of adults) had only one of CKD, diabetes, or heart, stroke and vascular disease. Another 957,000 (5.0% of adults) had at least 2 of CKD, diabetes, or heart, stroke and vascular disease.

Specifically:

  • 333,000 adults (1.8%) had CKD and diabetes
  • 324,000 adults (1.7%) had CKD as well as heart, stroke and vascular disease
  • 161,000 adults (0.8%) had heart, stroke and vascular disease as well as diabetes
  • 140,000 adults (0.7%) had all 3 conditions (Figure 1).

Among adults with biomedical signs of CKD in 2022–24, 29% also had diabetes and/or heart, stroke and vascular disease. This increased with age, from 20% among 18–64-year-olds with CKD to 39% of adults aged 65 and over.

Figure 1: Prevalence of chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and heart, stroke and vascular disease (HSVD) and their comorbidity, people aged 18 and over, 2022–24

This figure shows the proportion of adults who have one or more conditions: chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and heart, stroke and vascular diseases.

This figure shows the proportion of adults who have one or more conditions: chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and heart, stroke and vascular diseases.

Note: CKD prevalence is based on eGFR and ACR test results. Diabetes prevalence is based on HbA1c and self-reported data. Heart, stroke and vascular disease prevalence is based on self-reporting by people who participated in the measured component of the 2022–24 Australian Health Survey. Estimates are weighted results for persons where a urine and blood sample were collected. 

Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2025.   

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Comorbidities of people receiving kidney replacement therapy

The Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant (ANZDATA) Registry collects information on the comorbidities of people who receive kidney replacement therapy (KRT) for kidney failure (AIHW analysis of ANZDATA, 2024).

Of the 3,500 people who started KRT for kidney failure in 2024:

  • more than half (1,700 or 50%) had type 1 or type 2 diabetes
  • 1,200 (33%) had known or suspected coronary heart disease
  • 649 (19%) had known or suspected peripheral artery disease
  • 471 (14%) had known or suspected chronic lung disease
  • 326 (9.4%) had known or suspected cerebrovascular disease (mostly stroke).
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