A record number of people in Denmark have registered a decision on organ donation, with just under two million nationally and 169,057 on Funen counted as of 30 September 2026.
The figures were reported on 15 November 2026 by TV 2, in a story produced by the regional broadcaster TV 2 Fyn. The report is built around Annelise Buhl Staunstrup, 71, from Sanderum near Odense, who received a donor heart in early 2014.
She was diagnosed with heart disease at Odense University Hospital in 2010 after fainting. She was placed on the transplant waiting list on 9 November 2013, and was operated on at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. Four months after the transplant she was running again, according to TV 2 Fyn.
The numbers behind the record
The register count for Funen rose to 169,057 by 30 September 2026, against 116,138 two years earlier. That is an increase of 52,919 people. Julia Andersen Bager, a communications and knowledge officer at Dansk Center for Organdonation, described the national total as the highest ever recorded.
Figures published by Dansk Center for Organdonation put the register at 1,934,837 people based on September 2026 data, of whom 314,639 chose limited permission. Tidende reported in October 2026 a count of 1,941,790, or roughly four in ten people over 15. TV 2 Fyn gives the figure as just under two million.
Around 400 people are added to the waiting list for a new organ every year, according to figures from Dansk Center for Organdonation cited by TV 2 Fyn. The center’s annual status report, published in 2026 for the year 2025, recorded about 1.9 million registrations by the end of 2025. That was equal to 37 percent of people over 15, roughly 370,000 more than the year before.
Why the totals have climbed since June 2025
A change to the Health Act took effect on 1 June 2025. According to Sundhedsstyrelsen, everyone over 18 is now listed in the Organdonorregistret by default. Per Bager, the first login shows a tick in full permission, but it is not confirmed until the person confirms it.
That means an active choice is still required. Bager noted that without it, relatives must decide if organ donation becomes a possibility after a person’s death. Wishes registered before 1 June 2025 remain valid, TV 2 Fyn reports. The Ministry of the Interior and Health has reported, via Sjællandske, that more than 186,000 people took a position between 1 and 15 June 2025.
What the organ donor register means for foreign residents
The register is called Organdonorregistret and is reached through Sundhed.dk, the public health portal, using MitID. Sundhedsstyrelsen states that all adults over 18 are listed, and that the default entry still has to be confirmed or changed by the person. Like most parts of healthcare in Denmark, access runs through a CPR number and a MitID login.
The register allows more than a yes or no. Dansk Center for Organdonation’s September 2026 data shows 314,639 people chose limited permission, which covers specific organs or tissue only. Bager stressed that the decision is one only the individual can make, and that relatives are left to decide if it is not recorded. Annelise Buhl Staunstrup said a decision not to donate is also fine, and that what matters is making the choice.
Not every question is settled in the sources. DR reported around December 2025 that an association feared some of the 528,108 first-time registrations recorded between December 2024 and November 2025 were made without adequate information. The national totals for September 2026 also differ between sources, and no outlet in this reporting sets out separate rules for residents without Danish citizenship.
