Worldwide Organ Donation Statistics

The following analysis of Organ Donation and Transplantation Statistics are derived exclusively from the O.N.T. Transplant Newsletter 2008 Volume 13, number one.  Each country has been ranked per million of population for comparison purposes.

The gross domestic product differences between each country, has not been considered but, at a glance, it would seem to be a significant factor in the rankings. The size of the countries population has little baring on kidney transplantation, note Cyprus, but it does for all other transplants. The analysis does not take into account any transfer of organs between countries and this would be significant and interesting to know.
Spain has the highest deceased donor rate but that does not translate into the highest transplantation rates because of their low rate of living transplantation and their poor rate of utilisation of deceased donor kidneys.
Switzerland’s 100 percentage use of deceased donor kidneys is remarkable. Ten countries achieved over 90% usage which leaves the question about the countries that do not achieve 85% at a minimum. We have no information on the quality of the deceased donor organs – but we understand that kidneys are considered from the oldest of deceased donors.
There are many more interesting comparisons to be made and each country can judge its own strengths and weaknesses and general performance.