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The number of type 2 diabetes prescriptions in England has risen by a third in five years, according to new research by Exasol.

The company analysed a government-issued dataset of every prescription handed out by pharmacies since 2010 and produced a heat map of England showing the prescription rates.

The analysis revealed that the number of prescriptions for type 2 diabetes medication have risen from 26 million in 2011 to 35 million in 2015. In addition, the number of prescriptions for type 2 diabetes medication in the first six months of 2016 was already up by more than eight per cent compared to the same period the year before.

There were large variations in prescribing across England, with a greater prevalence of the disease in the east of England, particularly between East Anglia and Hull. The London district of Newham has the highest prescribing in the country, which is over double the national average.

The research also revealed that at the beginning of 2016, 3.5 million adults were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the UK and, based on current trends, the number of people with type 2 diabetes is on track to reach five million by 2020, five years earlier than previously thought. In addition, prescriptions of drugs to treat more serious forms of type 2 diabetes were found to have doubled in five years €“ a sign that people are moving past the point where a combination of diet, exercise and the first-line drug metformin can be used for treatment.