Last year, Spain recorded more organ transplants than ever before, with 5,891 such procedures, a 9% increase over 2022, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said on Wednesday.

With one in four donors in the European Union and 5% of all donors in the world, Spain, with a population of 48 million people, has been a world leader in the organ transplant sector for more than three decades, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

Spain ranks first in this ranking for various reasons, such as the fact that Spanish hospitals have a transplant coordinator, usually an intensive care specialist, and have improved their expertise in organ donation in asystole, which occurs in donors who die after cardiorespiratory arrest. systems.

Monica García said that last year Spain was the only country that performed all types of transplants from donors in asystole.

According to the Spanish minister, Spain has the highest donation activity in the world, with a rate of 48.9 donors per 1 million people in 2023. The United States, whose data for 2023 is not yet available, recorded 44.5 donors per 1 million people in 2022.

In terms of transplant activity, the United States leads with 130.7 transplants per 1 million people in 2022, while Spain reported 122.1 transplants per 1 million people in 2023.