Overview
- DSO data show 985 postmortem donors in 2025, up 3.4% year over year, equating to 11.8 donors per million inhabitants.
- Eurotransplant distributed 3,020 organs for transplantation, including 1,495 kidneys, 823 livers, 315 hearts, 308 lungs, 76 pancreases and three intestines.
- Waiting lists remained long with 8,199 people at year’s end, while 3,256 organs were transplanted in German centers and 3,150 patients received at least one organ.
- Donation rates vary widely, with the DSO East region (Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia) at 16.3 donors per million—38% above the national average.
- Operational hurdles persist as about two-thirds of hospital contacts do not lead to donation due to undocumented donor decisions, a key factor behind renewed policy debate.