Yates won the title by three minutes 56 seconds over Mexico’s Isaac del Toro, with Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz 47 seconds further back in third.
Del Toro, 21, won the white jersey for best young rider, Denmark’s Mads Pedersen claimed the mauve points classification jersey and Italy’s Lorenzo Fortunato took the blue mountains classification jersey.
It is Yates’ second Grand Tour title following his victory in the 2018 Vuelta a Espana.
He is only the second British men’s cyclist to win multiple Grand Tours after Chris Froome, who won seven.
Yates is the third British rider to win the Giro, after Froome (2018) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (2020).
His victory comes seven years after a dramatic collapse in the 2018 Giro when he led the race for 13 days only to crack when Froome seized the lead with an astonishing long-range attack two days from Rome.
Yates returned to the Giro in search of victory over the next four consecutive years but fell short, his best finish third place in 2021.
After a two-year break from the race, during which he finished a career-high fourth in the 2023 Tour de France, Yates has finally won the Giro at his sixth attempt.
He is set to ride this year’s Tour in support of team-mate Jonas Vingegaard, who is targeting a third Tour title.
This is Yates’ first season riding for Visma, having previously spent all of his professional career with Australian team Jayco–AlUla.