Number of patients active on organ transplant waiting list in Belgium 2016-2018

In 2018, almost 1.5 thousand individuals were active on the transplant list waiting for a kidney in Belgium. This was significantly more patients waiting for a kidney than in the preceding two years. The number of patients waiting on a liver transplant also increased over the three-year period reaching its highest figure in 2018.

Transplant activity in Belgium

In 2018, 46.2 kidney transplants per million population were carried out in Belgium, an increase from a rate of 45.6 in 2016. Kidney transplants are still the most common organ transplant procedure, ahead of liver and lung transplant with a rate of 26.8 and 10.1 per million population respectively. The number of patients who died on the kidney transplant list has decreased in Belgium, going from 45 in 2016 to 35 in 2018.

European comparisons

The rate of kidney transplant procedures in Belgium is in the top half when classified alongside other European countries. In 2018, Belgium ranked eighth out of the European countries in the rate of kidney transplants. Spain had the highest rate with 71.4 procedures per million population.