Spain reached 5,861 organ transplants in 2023 a rate of 122.1 transplants per million population (pmp), according to the National Transplant Organization (ONT). This was stated by the Minister of Health, Mónica García, accompanied by the Director General of the ONT, Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, at a press conference. “The data shows a resounding success,” emphasized the head of department, who praised Spain’s “Model of Excellence” as “a pillar of social cohesion committed to solidarity.”
A total of 140,000 transplants have been performed since records began. This high level of activity has been achieved Thank you to the 2,346 people who donated their organs after her death, which corresponds to a donation rate of 48.9 donors per month, and 435 people who donated a kidney (433) or part of their liver (2) during their lifetime. This data represents a 9 percent growth in transplants and 7 percent in donations compared to 2022.
In fact, the transplant rate exceeds the historic high of 2019, i.e. before the Covid-19 pandemic, by 8 percent. The average number of daily donors last year was 8 and the average number of transplants performed daily was 16. The growth in 2023 was generalized across all types of transplants. There were 3,688 kidney transplants (8% more than the previous year), 1,262 liver transplants (+9%), 479 lung transplants (+15%), 325 heart transplants (+5%), 100 pancreas transplants (+9%) and 7 intestinal transplants. (+75%).
With a total of 433 procedures, live donor kidney transplant activity increased by 24 percent and accounted for 12 percent of total kidney transplants performed. In addition to the historical records represented by the total number of transplants, the figures for kidney transplants (from both living and deceased donors) and liver and lung transplants are also taken into account exceed any recorded value.
“When we talk about patients who stop dialysis, who do not need to be admitted, We are talking about a profound change in people's lives“, celebrated García, who recalled the importance of “folk stories”. “We Spaniards are the global citizens who have the best chance of receiving an organ when we need it,” he added.