India has witnessed a significant increase in deceased organ donations post-COVID, surpassing a milestone by transitioning from 3 digits to 4 digits for the first time, having had a total of 1,037 deceased donors in 2023. The southern and western states continue to be major contributors, as in previous years. Notably, several new states have started participating, with Manipur being the latest addition. Overall, 2,904 patients have benefited from deceased donor transplants, achieving an organ utilization rate of 2.8 organs per donor. In 2023, there were 96 more donations compared to 2022, which had 941 donors, although the organ utilization was slightly higher in 2022 at 2.86 per donor.

In 2023, India conducted a total of 12,526 kidney transplants, comprised of 10,896 from living donors and 1,630 from deceased donors. Additionally, there were 4,173 liver transplants, including 3,338 from living donors, 828 from deceased donors, and 7 from domino transplants. Notably, 15% of kidney transplants and 20% of liver transplants involved organs from deceased donors.

According to 2022 statistics from the Global Observatory, India accounts for 25% of living donor kidney transplants performed worldwide but only 3% of deceased donor kidney transplants. In contrast to the previous year, India experienced a decrease in heart transplants in 2023, with 221 compared to 241 in 2022, indicating a decline in heart utilization rates. However, lung transplants increased from 144 in 2022 to 191 in 2023.

Transplants in India - 2022 vs 2023
(Living + Deceased + Domino)

Total Kidney Transplants from Living Donors
(Global 2012-2022)

Total Kidney Transplants from Deceased Donors
(Global 2012-2022)