Abstract This study investigated the prevalence and incidence of diabetes self-referred in the elderly. Longitudinal population-based study (EpiFloripa Ageing Study), with 1.702 elderly in 2009/10 and 1.197 in 2013/14 of Florianópolis, SC. Self-reported and anthropometric data were collected at home. The prevalence of diabetes self-referred in 2009/10 was 22.1% (95%CI 20.1-24.1). The characteristics were: no formal schooling (2.30; CI95% 1.32-4.00); 5 to 8 years of schooling (OR = 1.70, CI95% 1.07-2.69); increased waist circumference (OR = 3.31, CI95% 2.05-5.34) and hypertension (OR = 2.38, CI95%: 1.68-3.36). The incidence of diabetes self-reported after four years of follow-up was 8.3% (95% CI, 6.7-10.3). After adjustment: increased waist circumference (OR= 2.23, CI95% 1.09-4.57) at baseline was associated with the incidence of diabetes. The prevalence and incidence of diabetes were high among the elderly. Interventions must be performed especially with elderly with low and without formal schooling, with increased waist circumference and hypertension, thus they were the subgroups with higher odds ratio of reporting and developing diabetes.