Spain supplied 23% of EU deceased organ donors in 2025

Spain recorded the world’s highest rate of deceased organ donation in 2025, reaching 53.2 donors per million people. The country supplied 23% of such donors in the European Union and 5% worldwide, despite accounting for 11% of the EU population and 0.7% of the global population.

Its health system completed 6,336 organ transplants, or 132.3 per million people, a rate surpassed only by the United States. Spain also achieved the highest per-capita rates for kidney and lung transplantation, carrying out 4,000 kidney and 556 lung procedures during the year.

Spain was particularly active in donation after circulatory death, when organs are donated following death from cardiorespiratory arrest. Its 1,416 donors in this category represented 48% of the EU total and 10% of the worldwide figure. Preservation systems that reduce damage caused by interrupted blood flow helped these donors support 32,175 transplants globally.

The wider international picture also improved. The 96 reporting countries performed a record 183,896 organ transplants in 2025, 4% more than the previous year. EU activity reached another high of 32,816 procedures. Demand remains substantial, however: 53,343 people were still awaiting an organ in the EU at the end of 2025.