Overview

• DKMS added 150,000 new German donors in the first half of 2025 but lost an equal number of members who exceeded the 61-year eligibility limit, resulting in zero net growth.
• Only individuals between ages 18 and 61 can register, and age-related removals are set to reach 150,000 in 2025, more than double the 66,000 seen in 2019.
• Germany records a blood cancer diagnosis every twelve minutes, and one in ten patients still cannot find a matching stem cell donor.
• Annual new registrations have fallen from over 688,000 in 2019 to about 344,000 in 2024, contributing to a shrinking pool of younger donors.
• To reverse the trend, DKMS is expanding school outreach, social-media campaigns, and recruitment drives at sports clubs and music festivals.