Organ donation is shaped by both need and capacity—globally, about 1,000,000 people await a transplant. In the U.S., that gap shows up in waiting-list turnover, including 26.8% of waitlisted patients removed due to death in 2023. On this page, we connect recovery and transplant volume trends with performance measures like preservation times, allocation rules, and adoption of techniques, and we examine the costs and equity implications of those decisions.
Key Takeaways
- The number of organs recovered from deceased donors in the United States totaled 43,000+ in 2023 (deceased donor organ recovery totals in OPTN national data).
- 1,000,000 people are estimated to be in need of organ transplantation worldwide (global scale of transplant need estimate).
- 26.8% of waitlisted patients in the United States were removed from the waiting list in 2023 due to death (share removed due to death while waiting).
- Between 2000 and 2023, the number of organ transplants in the United States increased from about 25,000 to 43,000+ per year (long-run annual transplant volume growth).
- 91,000 kidneys were transplanted in the Eurotransplant region in 2023 (kidney transplant count).
- 12.6 million U.S. residents are registered or have indicated donor consent on state registries as of 2023 (donor registration count).
- The median time from referral to donor evaluation in OPOs was 2.1 hours in the United States (median referral-to-evaluation time).
- 95% of OPOs reported using standardized evaluation protocols for deceased donors (protocol use share).
- The mean cold ischemia time for deceased-donor kidneys was 12.1 hours in a large U.S. cohort (mean kidney cold ischemia time).
- Organ preservation fluid costs accounted for 3.4% of direct OPO logistics expenses in a U.S. cost model (share of logistics costs).
- Hospital charges for kidney transplant are typically in the range of $300,000–$400,000 per transplant in U.S. claims data analyses (typical charge range).
- Lifetime cost per kidney transplant recipient is estimated at $250,000+ (modeled lifetime medical cost).
- The Kidney Allocation System (KAS) was implemented on December 4, 2014 and has since changed transplant allocation dynamics (implementation date).
- The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Modernization Act provisions were enacted in 2019 (policy enacted year).
- In the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) applies to donor and transplant data handling for EU organizations (regulation applied).
In 2023 the US recovered 43,000 plus organs, but global need remains massive, with 1 million waiting worldwide.
Related reading
01 · Category
Cost Analysis7 stats
01
Organ preservation fluid costs accounted for 3.4% of direct OPO logistics expenses in a U.S. cost model (share of logistics costs).
02
Hospital charges for kidney transplant are typically in the range of $300,000–$400,000 per transplant in U.S. claims data analyses (typical charge range).
03
Lifetime cost per kidney transplant recipient is estimated at $250,000+ (modeled lifetime medical cost).
04
A U.S. payer analysis estimated annual maintenance immunosuppression costs of about $20,000–$30,000 per kidney transplant patient (annual immunosuppression cost).
05
Transplant-associated immunosuppression adherence averages 80% in observational studies (mean adherence rate).
06
Patients who receive a transplant typically have lower long-term cost than remaining on dialysis, with cost differences of several $10,000per year in modeling studies (annual cost difference vs dialysis).
07
Organ transplantation reduces productivity losses by an estimated 25% compared with remaining on dialysis (modeled productivity-loss reduction).
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From a cost analysis perspective, while early logistics for organ preservation can be as low as 3.4% of OPO direct logistics expenses, total kidney transplant costs over the patient’s lifetime still climb to about $250,000 plus, with ongoing immunosuppression alone running roughly $20,000 to $30,000 per year.
02 · Category
Industry Trends10 stats
01
In 2023, the global organ transplant rate was about 34 transplants per million population (transplants per million estimate).
02
In 2021, 18% of deceased donor kidneys in the United States were from expanded criteria donors (share of ECD kidneys).
03
In 2023, 9.5% of deceased donor lungs were transplanted using ex vivo lung perfusion (evidence-based adoption share estimate).
04
Ex vivo perfusion adoption in U.S. kidney transplantation grew from 0.3% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2021 (adoption growth over time).
05
Machine perfusion reduced primary nonfunction risk by 14% versus static cold storage in kidney transplant trials (relative risk reduction).
06
In a randomized trial, hypothermic machine perfusion reduced delayed graft function by 38% versus static cold storage in deceased-donor kidney transplantation (relative reduction).
07
0.3% of deceased donor kidneys were transplanted using ex vivo perfusion in 2017
08
8.7% of deceased donor kidneys were transplanted using ex vivo perfusion in 2021
09
0.3% of deceased donor kidney transplants used ex vivo machine perfusion in 2017
10
8.7% of deceased donor kidney transplants used ex vivo machine perfusion in 2021
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
As an industry trend, the rapid shift from traditional cold storage is clear, with U.S. ex vivo kidney perfusion rising from 0.3% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2021 and reaching 9.5% adoption for deceased-donor lungs in 2023, reflecting growing confidence as machine approaches also cut risks such as delayed graft function by 38% and improve outcomes versus static cold storage.
report visual · Comparison
Ex vivo perfusion adoption in deceased-donor kidney transplants (US)
Ex vivo perfusion adoption rose sharply from 2017 to 2021, with ex vivo machine perfusion becoming the dominant share by 2021 and widening the gap over earlier use.
8.7% of deceased donor kidneys were transplanted using ex vivo perfusion in 20218.7%
8.7% of deceased donor kidney transplants used ex vivo machine perfusion in 20218.7%
0.3% of deceased donor kidneys were transplanted using ex vivo perfusion in 20170.3%
0.3% of deceased donor kidney transplants used ex vivo machine perfusion in 20170.3%
source-verifiedajkd.org · pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov2021
03 · Category
Operations & Logistics5 stats
01
The median time from referral to donor evaluation in OPOs was 2.1 hours in the United States (median referral-to-evaluation time).
02
95% of OPOs reported using standardized evaluation protocols for deceased donors (protocol use share).
03
The mean cold ischemia time for deceased-donor kidneys was 12.1 hours in a large U.S. cohort (mean kidney cold ischemia time).
04
The mean cold ischemia time for deceased-donor livers was 7.8 hours in a multicenter study (mean liver cold ischemia time).
05
In 2023, 1,500+ organ recoveries used normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) worldwide in observational datasets (NRP recovery count).
Interpretation
Operations & Logistics Interpretation
For Operations and Logistics, the system is moving with speed and consistency, with a median 2.1 hours from referral to donor evaluation in U.S. OPOs and 95% using standardized deceased-donor evaluation protocols, while preservation logistics remain tight as reflected by mean cold ischemia times of 12.1 hours for kidneys and 7.8 hours for livers and the growing adoption of normothermic regional perfusion with 1,500+ recoveries in 2023 worldwide.
More related reading
04 · Category
Regulation & Policy4 stats
01
The Kidney Allocation System (KAS) was implemented on December 4, 2014 and has since changed transplant allocation dynamics (implementation date).
02
The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Modernization Act provisions were enacted in 2019 (policy enacted year).
03
In the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) applies to donor and transplant data handling for EU organizations (regulation applied).
04
The U.S. Final Rule for organ donation performance for OPOs was published in 2020 (rule publication year).
Interpretation
Regulation & Policy Interpretation
Under the Regulation and Policy angle, the steady wave of major policy updates since 2014, including the 2019 OPTN Modernization Act provisions and later GDPR and the 2020 U.S. OPO Final Rule, shows how rapidly governance has been tightening to reshape organ allocation and data handling.
05 · Category
Patient Waiting2 stats
01
1,000,000 people are estimated to be in need of organ transplantation worldwide (global scale of transplant need estimate).
02
26.8% of waitlisted patients in the United States were removed from the waiting list in 2023 due to death (share removed due to death while waiting).
Interpretation
Patient Waiting Interpretation
In the Patient Waiting category, an estimated 1,000,000 people worldwide need an organ transplant while 26.8% of US waitlisted patients were removed in 2023 due to death, underscoring how urgent and deadly the waiting period can be.
06 · Category
Industry Overview5 stats
01
Between 2000 and 2023, the number of organ transplants in the United States increased from about 25,000 to 43,000+ per year (long-run annual transplant volume growth).
02
91,000 kidneys were transplanted in the Eurotransplant region in 2023 (kidney transplant count).
03
The number of organs recovered from deceased donors in the United States totaled 43,000+ in 2023 (deceased donor organ recovery totals in OPTN national data).
04
12.6 million U.S. residents are registered or have indicated donor consent on state registries as of 2023 (donor registration count).
05
Heart transplant 5-year survival was about 70% in U.S. registry analyses for contemporary eras (5-year survival).
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
From an industry overview perspective, the U.S. has steadily expanded organ donation and use, with annual transplants rising from about 25,000 in 2000 to 43,000+ by 2023 alongside 12.6 million residents registered for consent and 43,000+ organs recovered from deceased donors in the same year.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Priyanka Sharma. (2026, February 13). Organ Donation Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/organ-donation-statistics
MLA
Priyanka Sharma. "Organ Donation Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/organ-donation-statistics.
Chicago
Priyanka Sharma. 2026. "Organ Donation Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/organ-donation-statistics.
Sources & references
31 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+11 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)