The number of people willing to donate their organs after death has reached a record 18 million.
Data from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) shows almost one in three (30%) people in the UK are on the organ donor register.
Scotland has the highest proportion at 37% but all parts of the UK have seen a rise.
The South West has 35% of people on the register but in both London and the West Midlands the proportion is 24%.
The data comes after NHSBT warned last week of a “generation gap” in blood donors.
Figures show a 20% drop in the number of young people giving blood during the past decade and only 4% of eligible donors give blood.
Sally Johnson, director of organ donation and transplantation at NHSBT, said the latest figures are “a fantastic achievement”.
But she added: “However, if we are to see that everyone in need of a transplant receives one, we need even more people to sign up. We would especially encourage more people from black and Asian communities to join the register because patients from these communities wait on average three times longer for an organ.
Copyright © Press Association 2011
