Anemia is common in diabetic patients and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The observations that diabetes-related chronic kidney disease is more common than chronic kidney disease of other etiologies, that anemia may occur earlier in diabetes-related chronic kidney disease than in other types of chronic kidney disease, and that anemia in diabetes-related kidney disease often is found without measurable renal impairment suggest that the diabetic population may have a predilection to the development of anemia. Anemia is associated with a poorer prognosis in diabetic-associated comorbid conditions, but targeted correction of anemia has improved diabetic patients' quality of life.