Life-changing impact of organ and tissue donation highlighted in 2025 annual review
Organ Donation New Zealand has released its 2025 Annual Activity Review, sharing the national donation figures behind almost 300 lifesaving and life-changing organ and tissue donations facilitated across Aotearoa during the year.
In 2025, 60 people, with the support of their whānau, donated organs following their death.
Of these, 45 were donations following brain death and 15 following circulatory death.
This enabled 190 organs to be donated, offering lifesaving transplants to recipients, and far-reaching benefits to their families and wider communities.
There were a further 57 tissue-only donors, who gave tissues such as cornea, sclera and heart valves to help improve the lives of many, many more people.
“Every instance of donation is an incredibly generous and powerful gift that can save and improve multiple lives, and have positive ripple effects through communities and our wider health system,” says Sue Garland, ODNZ’s Donor Coordinator Team Leader.
While fewer people died in a way that made organ donation possible during 2025, seeing a slight decrease in the number of deceased organ donors compared to 2024, the overall rate of donation was similar to previous years.
“Just 1.3% of all deaths in New Zealand, or 498 people, met the initial criteria in 2025, compared with 1.6%, or 599 people, in 2024. That is around 100 fewer potential donors.
“Still, year-on-year, rates remain consistent at around 12% of potential donor deaths, compared to 11.7% in 2024.”
The proportion of organ donation conversations had with whānau, often within an ICU setting, increased from 34% of possible cases in 2024 to 36.9% in 2025. In 2025, 38.6% of families said yes to donation when approached.
“Behind every donation is a whānau making a deeply personal decision, often in the most difficult of circumstances.
“We are grateful to every family member who has considered donation, and to the clinical teams who support them through that process with care, clarity and respect.”
The report shares a number of stories from whānau of deceased donors and from transplant recipients.
It also covers the organisation’s clinical education and strategic work during the year, which included establishing new systems, delivering education to the healthcare sector, and growing team capability, as well as extensive engagement across the health sector in New Zealand, Australia and the UK to inform strategic planning aimed at increasing donation rates in New Zealand.
The report is available in full here.
