According to a report by the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST): “A downward trend is observed from 2017 to 2020, stabilising in the following year, returning to the previous trend from 2021 to 2024,” the document points out, highlighting that “the abrupt drop” in 2020 was related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regarding the number of donors, the data indicates that there were a total of 200,965 in 2024, 4,390 fewer than the previous year and 9,939 fewer than in 2017.

The number of donations also decreased, from 306,033 in 2023 to 299,914 in 2024. In 2017, they reached 324,053.

However, the number of first-time donors and their proportional representation in relation to the total number of donors did not undergo significant changes in the last three years, maintaining in 2024 the same average number of donations per donor as that recorded in 2023 (1.49).

According to the IPST (Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation), 31,721 people donated blood for the first time in 2024, representing 15.78% of the total, and 32,739 (15.94%) in 2023.

Women continue to represent the majority of donors.

The age distribution of the donor population continues to show a progressive aging of the donor population, with an increase in the average age and a proportional increase in the age groups between 45 and 65 years and over 65 years, and a decrease in the age groups between 18 and 24 years and 25 and 44 years.

According to Alberto Mota, approximately 1,000 to 1,100 units of blood are needed every day, which requires “the mobilization of the entire society for donation.”

“Unfortunately, people are donating less and less, and the regular donors are generations that are aging, who can no longer donate blood after the age of 65. Therefore, it is a daily struggle to get younger people to donate blood,” he lamented.

Alberto Mota advocated for “more incentives, more promotion, better planning, and more healthcare professionals” to respond to the “many requests” for blood drives and to reduce waiting times at donation centers, as well as changes to donor service hours, particularly in hospitals.