As of October 2024, almost 6,000 patients in Italy necessitated a kidney transplant. This was by far the organ most commonly needed by patients on an organ donation waiting list. In the same year, on hold for a liver transplant were 988 patients, whereas 723 ill individuals were waiting for a new heart. Lastly, 270 patients on the waiting list required a lung transplant and 179 of them a new pancreas. The steady decline of patients on a kidney waiting list that occurred in the last few years impacted the total number considerably.
Willingness to donate organs
Explicit consent or dissent is the principle ruling organ donation in Italy. Recently, the formal declaration of willingness to donate organs has become increasingly widespread among Italians. This may be due to the possibility – newly introduced in many Italian cities – to release a written statement in conjunction with the renewal of the identity document. In 2024, the number of organ donors peaked, with 2,110 individuals.  
Deaths among patients waiting for a transplant
Furthermore, the total number of people who died while waiting for an organ donation decreased over the last years. Indeed, the number of deaths among patients on the liver, heart, lung, and pancreas waiting list declined. However, the number of deaths among individuals waiting for a kidney remained quite high, adding up to 177 individuals in 2023.