OBJECTIVE: Conflicting evidence of a decline in incidence of microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes during the last decades has been reported. To assess recent trends in the cumulative incidence of diabetic microangiopathy in type 1 diabetes, we analyzed data from long-term prospective observational studies lasting >/=20 years. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 600 Caucasian patients with onset of type 1 diabetes between 1965 and 1984 were followed until death or until the year 2000. Patients were divided into four groups based on the year of diabetes onset: group A, 1965-1969 (n = 113); group B, 1970-1974 (n = 130); group C, 1975-1979 (n = 113); and group D, 1979-1984 (n = 244). Group A, B, and C are prevalence cohorts identified in 1984; group D is an inception cohort. RESULTS: In patients followed for >/=20 years, the cumulative incidence (95% CI) of diabetic nephropathy after 20 years of diabetes (urinary albumin excretion >300 mg/24 h) was reduced in patients with more recent diabetes onset (groups A-D): 31.1% (22.5-39.7) vs. 28.4% (19.8-37.0) vs. 18.9% (10.9-26.9) vs. 13.7% (6.2-21.2) (P = 0.015). Similarly, the cumulative incidence of proliferative retinopathy was as follows: 31.2% (22.2-39.8) vs. 30.3% (22.2-38.4) vs. 19.3% (11.2-27.4) vs. 12.5% (5.2-19.8) (P