There has been a 7% increase in the number of organs donated in Wales since a new opt-out organ donation system was introduced.
New figures from the Organ Donation Annual Report 2016 revealed the number of deceased donors donating in Welsh hospitals was up from 60 in 2014/15 to 64 in 2015/16.
The number of donors after brain death increased by 13% to 36, while the number of donors after circulatory death remained the same at 28.
Wales became the first part of the UK to change the organ donation system when it introduced a soft opt-out system in 2015. People aged 18 and over who have lived in Wales for more than 12 months and who die in Wales will now be regarded as having consented to organ donation unless they have opted out. This is called deemed consent.
People who want to be an organ donor can register a decision to opt in or do nothing, which will mean they have no objection to being an organ donor. Those people who do not want to be organ donor can opt out at any time.
Health secretary Vaughan Gething AM said: “We’ve seen improvements in the number of donated organs and 36 percent of the population of Wales, 1,113,090 people, are now on the Organ Donor Register.
“We are moving in the right direction, but while there are still people dying waiting for potentially life saving transplants we must do more.
“We’ve made a concerted effort to raise awareness of the changes to organ donation law and the rapid increase in the numbers who now know about the changes is testament to that work.”