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The Facts on Donation and Transplant

Transplant Trends

Misinformation and ad hominem attacks on the non-profit organ donation system continue and demand with even more urgency that true peer-reviewed science, and not special interest politics, be the guiding principle to achieve greater effectiveness in the donation and transplant ecosystem.

While everyone concerned with the field desires optimal results, the special interest rhetoric of a “failing” system is simply a false narrative.

Donation and Transplant Fact Sheet:

Another annual record: Organ transplants exceeded 48,000 in 2024;

More organ transplants occurred in the United States in 2024 than ever before, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

The 48,149 transplants represent an increase of 3.3 percent compared to the 2023 total and 23.3 percent over the past five years.

Living donors enabled an additional 7,030 transplants.

KIDNEY LUNG , LIVER ,and HEART TRANSPLANTS AGAIN SET ANNUAL RECORDS Continuing a 14 year trend

Lung transplants had the largest proportional growth from 2023 (3,026) to 2024 (3,340), an increase of 10.4 percent. Liver transplants had the next highest increase; the 11,458 procedures represent growth of 7.5 percent over 2023. A smaller increase occurred for kidney transplants (27,759 total, 1.6 percent over 2023).

Donation Trends

ORGAN PROCUREMENT ORGANIZATIONS AGAIN SET DONATION RECORDS

While non-utilization of viable retrieved organs continued to increase

FACTS FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF ORGAN PROCUREMENT ORGANIZATIONS:

The U.S. organ donation and transplantation community achieved a historic milestone in 2024, with organ procurement organizations (OPOs) recovering over 45,000 organs which were successfully transplanted to save lives. This marks 14 consecutive years of nonstop growth in donation and reflects the dedication of OPOs, donors, donor families, and transplant professionals.

According to newly confirmed data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), in 2024:

  • 45,217 organs from deceased donors were transplanted, saving 39,505 lives.

  • An average of 132 organ transplants were performed daily.

  • 16,989 Americans became deceased organ donors.

  • 34 OPOs recovered more donors in 2024 than in 2023.

Policy Barriers Contributing to Organ Non-Use

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) mandates OPOs to increase the number of organs donated and transplanted, yet conflicting policies disincentivize transplant centers from accepting many of these recovered organs. As a result, a growing number of organs—particularly kidneys from older and medically complex donors—go unused. In 2024 alone, 9,266 kidneys were recovered but not transplanted, marking an 83% increase in kidney non-use over the past five years.