Heart transplant rate in Europe 2021-2022, by country

Heart transplants are required when an individual’s heart has stopped working effectively and brings a risk to the person’s life. A person who has recently died but with a healthy heart may be a suitable donor for a heart transplant. In Europe in 2022, Slovenia had the highest rate of heart transplants with 13.8 per million population, followed by Croatia with a rate of 9.3. 

Not everyone consents to organ donation

As a heart transplant requires a deceased donor, if the deceased person was not explicitly registered as a donor it is at the discretion of the family. In Ireland in 2016, fifty percent of families refused to consent to their family member’s organs being used after death. This was the highest rate of refusals in Europe between 2015 and 2017. Slovenia had a family refusal rate of almost sixteen percent in 2017.

Looking for a heart

Unfortunately, there are many cases of individuals who do not manage to survive long enough on the transplant list to receive a new heart. For example in Germany in 2021, 86 individuals died while waiting for a heart transplant. While in the UK, 23 deaths were recorded in 2021 among patients waiting on a heart transplant.