LONDON — Health officials estimate that 366 million people worldwide now suffer from diabetes.

The International Diabetes Federation says the diabetes epidemic is worsening and described the global number of cases as “staggering.” The group spoke today at a European meeting in Lisbon.

It estimated that diabetes causes 4.6 million deaths every year and that health systems spend $465 billion annually fighting the disease. That includes both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Jean Claude Mbanya, the federation’s president, says “in 2011, one person is dying from diabetes every seven seconds.”