WASHINGTON — In a finding certain to put new pressure on the purveyors of sugary foods and drinks, a worldwide analysis shows that regardless of its effect on obesity, the ebb and flow of sugar in a country’s diet strongly influences the diabetes rate there.

The study provides compelling evidence that obesity isn’t driving the worldwide pandemic of Type 2 diabetes as much as the rising consumption of sugar — largely in the form of sweetened sodas.

In 175 countries studied, a 150-calorie daily increase in the availability of sugar — about the equivalent of a can of Coke or Pepsi — raises the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes by 1.1 percent, a research team from Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, found.

Dr. Walter Willett, a nutritionist and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, said the results show that sugar consumption “is fueling the global epidemic of diabetes,” and that reducing that consumption is an essential step in controlling the rise of the disorder.