Objective：To investigate the correlation between the triglyceride - glucose（TyG）index and the risk of progression of diabetic retinopathy（DR）. Methods：521 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology of the Affiliated Suqian Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from June 2022 to June 2023 were included. Based on the diagnosis and staging criteria of DR，the patients were classified into three groups：the no - diabetic retinopathy（NDR）group（n=206），non - proliferative diabetic retinopathy（NPDR）group（n=159），and proliferative diabetic retinopathy（PDR）group（n=156）. General data and major biochemical indexes of each group were compared，the TyG index was calculated，and the correlation between the TyG index and the risk of DR progression was analyzed. Results：Multifactorial logistic regression showed that the TyG index was an independent risk factor for DR. Further ordinal logistic regression showed that after adjusting for confounding factors including sex，age，body mass index （BMI），disease duration，glycated hemoglobin（HbA1c），total cholesterol（TC），low - density lipoprotein cholesterol（LDL - C），high density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL-C），creatinine（CR），uric acid（UA），and diabetic peripheral neuropathy（DPN），the TyG index was significantly associated with the risk of DR progression[Q3 vs. Q1，OR（95%CI）=4.179（2.552-6.848）]. A higher TyG index was associated with a greater risk of DR progression. Subgroup analysis showed that the Q3 group was still more likely to develop severe DR. The results of interaction analysis showed that there was a significant interaction between the TyG index and age as well as BMI， with patients aged ＞ 60 years and those with BMI ＞ 24 having a higher risk of DR. Conclusion：The TyG index is an independent risk factor for DR，and a high TyG index indicates the high risk of DR progression. Elderly and overweight patients are at a higher risk of developing DR.