India ranks a respectable 20th globally for living donors (10.8 living donors per million) among 77 countries
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India belongs to a small cluster of nations where living organ donations vastly outnumber deceased organ donations. Ironically, this is not due to a lack of intent; data indicate that posthumous organ donation intent among Indians is relatively high.
Crucially, women showed a greater willingness to donate organs after death. This sentiment aligns with the reality that women continue to shoulder the burden of donations. However, men significantly outnumber women among organ recipients — a trend that data suggest is driven not only by social factors, but potentially by a higher need among men.
These insights stem from an analysis of Indian driving license applications submitted in 2024, which explicitly asked applicants if they were willing to donate their organs or tissue in the event of death. The chart below illustrates the State-wise percentage of men and women who answered ‘yes’.
This trend holds true even in populous States such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, where willingness among women ranged from 17% to 21%, while men lagged behind in the 12% to 19% range. The highest level of willingness among women was seen in Delhi (approximately 27%). This far outstripped the male share of 16%. Meanwhile, Odisha led the charts for men with a national high of 20%; yet even in that State, women were more willing, at 22%.
However, there are caveats. First, stated intent differs from action. Second, the data are skewed towards a younger demographic typical of new license applicants, though they do include renewals.
Yet, the potential is undeniable: if even a fraction of these pledges translated into reality, it would transform India’s donation landscape, where transplants from deceased donors have only been fewer than 24,000 in the last decade.
The chart below, which plots the 2024 data across 77 countries, lays bare this disparity. While India ranks a respectable 20th globally for living donors (10.8 living donors per million), it plummets to 67th for deceased donors (0.8 deceased donors per million).
When read together, the charts above raise a pertinent question. We know that public willingness is high, and the robust figures for living transplants prove that the medical infrastructure is capable. This suggests that the failure lies somewhere in the middle, in the systemic disconnect between a citizen’s intent and the hospital’s ability to execute it.
The gender skew in the above chart is noticeable. Of the 21 major States for which data were considered, more women were willing to donate organs in 17. So, a higher willingness could also explain why women donate more organs than men. In 2023, over 60% of donors were women.
In sharp contrast, when we look at organ recipients, in 2023, nearly 65% were men. This is a lopsided ratio that reflects a long-standing and persistent skew in India’s transplant ecosystem. The chart above shows the details of the organ-wise breakdown of recipients in 2023.
The share of male recipients was distinctly higher than that of women across every category. In the case of liver transplants, men accounted for a staggering 70% of recipients in 2023.
Does this reflect a higher medical need? An earlier analysis by us revealed that in 2022, 4.5 times more men than women died of liver disease — a gap that has widened over the last decade. Crucially, these deaths were concentrated among middle-aged men, pointing to alcohol-related complications as a primary driver.
The data for the charts were sourced from NOTTO’s annual reports, the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation, and MCCD reports
Published – December 18, 2025 08:00 am IST
