BackgroundThe contribution of chronic kidney disease (CKD) to mortality in diabetic patients is unclear. This study aimed to explore the association between diabetics with CKD and mortality in middle-aged and elderly people of different ages.MethodsData were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, including 1,715 diabetic individuals, 13.1% of whom also had CKD. Diabetes and CKD were assessed by combining the physical measurements and self-reports. We fitted Cox proportional hazards regression models to examine the effect of diabetics with CKD on mortality in middle-aged and elderly people. The risk factors for death were further predicted based on age stratification.ResultsThe mortality rate of diabetic patients with CKD (29.3%) was increased as compared to that of diabetic patients without CKD (12.4%). Diabetics with CKD were at a higher risk of all-cause mortality than those without CKD, with a hazard ratio of 1.921 (95% CI: 1.438, 2.566). Additionally, for participants 45 to 67 years of age, the hazard ratio was 2.530 (95% CI: 1.624, 3.943).ConclusionsOur findings suggested that, for diabetics, CKD was a chronic stressor that led to death in middle-aged and elderly people, especially among participants aged 45 to 67 years.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13098-023-01083-0.