Renal complications are an important contributer to excess mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), according to new findings. Tancredi et al. showed that 17.7% of patients with T2DM who were registered in the Swedish National Diabetes Register on or after 1 January 1998 died during a mean follow-up of 4.6 years, compared to 14.5% of matched individuals from the general population who were followed for a mean of 4.8 years. Excess mortality increased with younger age, worsening glycaemic control and greater severity of renal complications.