Over 10 million NL residents registered a choice on organ donor register

At the start of this year, 10.7 million Netherlands residents registered their choice on the donor register. 4.8 million explicitly consented to donate their organs after death, and 4.4 million explicitly said no to donation. Nearly 1.5 million said they’d leave the decision up to their loved ones, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. About 3.3 million people haven’t registered a choice.

The Netherlands implemented a new organ donation law in 2020. Instead of automatically being registered as a non-donor, people who don’t register with the organ donor register are recorded as having “no objection to organ donation.” After their death, the doctors will talk to their families about donating their organs.

The new law has significantly affected the number of people who register their choice with the organ donor register. On 1 January 2020, at the end of the old donor law, 49 percent of the population aged 18 or older had registered their choice. On 1 January 2023, that was 73 percent.

Young people aged 18 to 25 most often haven’t entered their choice on the donor register yet. In that age group, 38 percent are registered as “no objection.” In the 25 to 34 age group, 31 percent haven’t entered their choice. In the over-65 age group, that was only 15 percent.

People aged 25 to 65 explicitly permitted organ donation more often than young people and people over 75. The proportion who did not give consent increases with increasing age, CBS said.