Italy ranks second in Europe for organ donation rates

Italy has ranked second in Europe for organ donation rates among large comparable nations, according to the Newsletter Transplant 2026 report. With 30.9 deceased donors per million inhabitants in 2025, Italy trails only Spain (53.2) and leads France (28.7), the United Kingdom (20.7), and Germany (11.7).

In terms of absolute numbers, Italy leads the European Union in liver transplants, with 1,753 procedures, and heart transplants, with 451. On a per capita basis, Italy ranks fifth globally for both liver and heart transplants, recording 29.6 liver and 7.6 heart transplants per million inhabitants.

The report, prepared by the Council of Europe’s Committee on Organ, Tissue and Cell Donation (CD-P-TO) and the Spanish National Transplant Organization, also highlights growth in donation after circulatory death. This category accounted for 456 donors in Italy, representing one-quarter of the total, which facilitated 428 transplants.