Organ Donation and Transplantation Statistics

as of April 25, 2012
  • There are currently 114,043 people waiting for lifesaving organ transplants in the U.S.
    Of these, 92,021 await kidney transplants.
  • Last year, 16,812 kidney transplants took place in the U.S. Of these, 11,043 kidney transplants came from deceased donors and 5,769 came from living donors.
  • Living Donor Age Breakdown:
    • Ages 18-34: 28.6%
    • Ages 35-49: 42.2%
    • Ages 50-64: 27.5%
    • Age 65+: 1.6%
  • Living Donor Gender Breakdown:
    • Male: 38.4%
    • Female: 61.6%
  • Living Donor Ethnicity Breakdown:
    • White/Caucasian: 70.1%
    • Black: 11.8%
    • Hispanic: 13.6%
    • Asian: 3.5%
  • Living donor relationship to recipient:
    • Parent to child: 508
    • Child to parent: 880
    • Identical twin: 12
    • Full sibling: 1,133
    • Half sibling: 61
    • Other relative: 437
    • Spouse or life partner: 711
    • Unrelated anonymous donor: 165
  • Other Key Facts:
    • On average, nearly 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list each month.
    • Every day, 18 people die while waiting for a life-saving transplant
    • Last year, 4,903 patients died while waiting for a kidney transplant.
    • Every 10 minutes someone is added to the transplant list
    • Acceptable organ donors can range in age from newborn to 65 years or more.
    • Donor organs are matched to waiting recipients by a national computer registry called the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). This computer registry is operated by an organization known as the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which is located in Richmond, Virginia.
    • To identify yourself as an organ donor, visit the Donate Life America website at donatelife.net and choose your state of residence to learn about the options in your area, which might include:
      • Join your state's online registry for donation, if one is available.
      • Declare your intentions on your driver's license.
      • Sign a donor card, which is available at kidney.org.
  • Signing a donor card, registry or driver's license is a good first step in designating your wishes about donation, but letting your family or other loved one's know about your decision is vitally important. That's because family members are often asked to give consent for a loved one's donation, so it's important that they know your wishes.

Updated April 25, 2012

Facts and statistics provided by the National Kidney Foundation at www.kidney.org, UNOS at www.UNOS.org and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/.