Number of patients active on organ transplant waiting list in Belgium 2020-2022

At the end of 2021, approximately 1.1 thousand individuals were active on the transplant list waiting for a kidney in Belgium. This was significantly more patients waiting for a kidney than in 2019. The number of patients waiting on a liver and heart transplant has also generally increased over the three-year period.

Transplant activity in Belgium

In 2021, 35.9 kidney transplants per million population were carried out in Belgium, a decrease from a rate of 37.4 in 2019. Kidney transplants are still the most common organ transplant procedure, ahead of liver and lung transplant with rates of 23.1 and 8.1 per million population respectively. The number of patients who died on the kidney transplant list has decreased in Belgium, going from 31 in 2017 to 29 in 2019.

European comparisons

The rate of kidney transplant procedures in Belgium was around average when classified alongside other European countries. In 2021, Belgium ranked fourteenth out of the European countries in the rate of kidney transplants. Spain had the highest rate with 63.2 procedures per million population.