AIMS/INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to examine ethnicity-specific associations between type 2 diabetes mellitus and the risk of a cardiovascular disease (CVD) event as well as risk of specific CVD phenotypes in England. METHODS: We obtained data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink for adults with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosed 2000-2006. The outcome was the first CVD event during 2007-2017 and the following components: aortic aneurysm, cerebrovascular accidents, heart failure, myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease and other CVD-related conditions. Flexible parametric survival models were used to estimate ethnicity-specific adjusted hazard ratios. RESULTS: A total of 734,543 people with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (29,847; 4.1%) were included; most were of white ethnicity (93.0% with and 92.3% without type 2 diabetes mellitus) followed by South Asian (3.2 and 4.6%). During a median follow-up period of 11.0 years, 67,218 events occurred (6,156 in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus). Type 2 diabetes mellitus was associated with a small increase in CVD events (adjusted hazard ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.09) in individuals of white ethnicity; whereas the adjusted hazard ratios were considerably higher in individuals of South Asian ethnicity (1.28, 95% confidence interval 1.09-1.51), primarily due to an increased risk of myocardial infarction (1.53, 95% confidence interval 1.08-2.18). CONCLUSIONS: Despite universal access to healthcare, there are large disparities in CVD outcomes in people with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus. Other non-traditional risk factors might play a role in the higher CVD risk associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus in individuals of South Asian ethnicity.