Tönnies T, et al. - Given that the hazard ratio (HR) is a meaningful concept for comparing the mortality of people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and without T2D, researchers aimed at to presenting population-wide age-specific HRs for Germany using a novel method based on aggregated population data. An illness-death model and published data on T2D prevalence and incidence as well as mortality in the German general population were utilized to determine age-specific HRs in the year 2012 for the population aged 65 to 90 years. Data suggested that in 2012, men and women with T2D aged 65-90 years experienced a three-to-four-fold higher mortality compared to people without T2D in Germany, indicating higher excess mortality in Germany than in comparable countries. Higher excess mortality was particularly observed among females and younger age group.