Abstract Background Cardiovascular mortality and the impact of cardiac risk factors in advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) remain poorly investigated. We examined the risk of cardiovascular mortality in patients with advanced CKD with and without diabetes as well as the impact of albuminuria, plasma hemoglobin, and plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. Methods In a Danish nationwide registry-based cohort study, we identified persons aged ≥ 18 years with an estimated glomerular filtration rate