Number of patients active on organ transplant waiting list in Germany 2018-2020

In 2020, the majority of individuals active on the organ donor list in Germany were waiting for a kidney. At approximately ten thousand waiting for a kidney in 2020, this was fewer patients waiting than in the preceding two years. The number of patients waiting for a lung transplants has decreased across the three-year period.

Transplant activity in Germany

In 2019, 25.9 kidney transplants per million population were carried out in Germany, an increase from 2017 when this rate was at 23.4 per million population. Kidney transplants are the most common organ transplant procedure carried out in Germany, ahead of liver and lung transplant with a rate of 10.1 and 4.2 per million population respectively. Although, there were 812 patients in Germany who died on the transplant waiting list, just under half of the deceased were waiting for a kidney transplant.

European comparisons

The rate of kidney transplant procedures in Germany is low compared to many other European countries. In 2019, Germany ranked 22^nd out of the European Union countries in the rate of kidney transplants. Spain had the highest rate with 73.8 procedures per million population.