Heart Transplant - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2026-2031)

The heart transplant market size is projected to expand from USD 13.25 billion in 2025 and USD 14.54 billion in 2026 to USD 23.15 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 9.75% between 2026 to 2031. This report is Segmented by Surgery Type (Total Artificial Heart, Ventricular Assist Devices, and More), Transplant Type (Orthotopic Heart Transplant, Heterotopic Heart Transplant), Application (End-Stage Heart Failure and More), End User (Hospitals and Specialty Clinics, Cardiac Institutes, and More), and Geography (North America, Europe, and More). The Market Forecasts are Provided in Terms of Value (USD).

Global Heart Transplant Market Trends and Insights

Rising End-Stage Heart Failure Burden

End-stage heart failure remains the main demand base for the heart transplant market because it is the largest application area and the most persistent source of late-stage patients. Heart failure contributed to 425,147 deaths in the United States in 2022, which represented 45% of all cardiovascular deaths. The patient pool is also changing because prevalence is growing faster in the 20 to 54 age band in middle and high-middle SDI countries, which broadens the future transplant candidate base. Ischemic and hypertensive heart disease together accounted for 57.1% of global heart failure etiology in 2023, so the heart transplant market is still closely tied to the larger cardiovascular disease burden. Programs that manage the full path from advanced medical therapy to mechanical support and then transplant are therefore positioned to capture a larger share of complex patient flow.

Wider Use of Normothermic Perfusion and Ex-Vivo Preservation

The heart transplant market is changing materially because organ preservation is no longer limited to a narrow cold-storage window. TransMedics received full FDA IDE approval in February 2026 for its next-generation OCS ENHANCE Heart trial and also introduced its Controlled Hypothermic Organ Preservation System as the control arm device, which shows that advanced preservation is moving toward a standard point of comparison. Data presented for the PRESERVE trial at ISHLT 2026 reported 91.4% survival at day 365 and showed that 73.8% of cases exceeded the traditional 4-hour preservation window, which points to a wider usable donor pool when more advanced perfusion is used. The organizational effect is just as important because transplant centers with dedicated organ recovery teams can move faster and with more consistency than those still depending on ad hoc surgical retrieval models. As this shift continues, the heart transplant market should reward centers and suppliers that can link device performance, logistics, and procurement discipline in one operating model.

Persistent Donor Heart Scarcity

The largest structural restraint in the heart transplant market is still the limited supply of donor hearts. The United States completed a record 48,149 organ transplants in 2024, but heart transplant volume was only 4,572, up very little from 4,545 in 2023, while the heart waiting list stood at 4,037 patients in March 2026. Donor quality is also becoming more complex because 48.2% of deceased donors in 2024 were aged 50 or older, which increases the need for better screening and preservation capability. The United Kingdom reported 174 adult heart transplants in 2024 to 2025, with 28% from DCD donors, but total volume still ran 13% below the prior year, which shows that even mature systems do not escape absolute supply limits. The heart transplant market therefore remains dependent on better DCD use, stronger preservation systems, and longer-term alternatives such as xenotransplantation before supply can loosen in a meaningful way.

Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:

• Greater Adoption of Mechanical Circulatory Support as Bridge-To-Transplant
• AI-Assisted Donor Matching and Graft Risk Stratification
• High Total Episode Cost, Including ICU and Long-Term Immunosuppression

Segment Analysis

Ventricular Assist Devices held 52.31% of the segment in 2025, which kept them in the leading position within the heart transplant market by surgery type. Their lead reflects their role as both a bridge-to-transplant option and, in selected cases, a durable therapy when a donor heart is not immediately available. Abbott’s HeartMate 3 remains central to this position because the HM3 SWIFT study supported thoracotomy as a non-inferior implant pathway, which widens use across different surgical settings. The current balance in this part of the heart transplant market favors VADs because they fit established workflows, clinician familiarity, and post-implant care models. This gives suppliers in the VAD category a stable base even as the technology mix becomes more competitive.

Total Artificial Heart is projected to grow at an 11.38% CAGR through 2031, making it the fastest-moving surgery type in the heart transplant market. That pace reflects demand for an option that reduces direct reliance on donor availability in patients with severe biventricular failure. A 10-year clinical study cited in the 2026 FACS Bulletin found that 79% of SynCardia TAH patients survived to transplantation compared with 46% on alternative bridging, which supports the category’s value where LVAD use is limited or contraindicated. Biventricular pacing and other surgery types still serve narrower clinical needs, and they are likely to remain secondary revenue contributors rather than major share challengers. Over time, the surgery type mix in the heart transplant market should move toward a stronger VAD and TAH pairing, with one anchored in mature adoption and the other lifted by unmet need.

Orthotopic Heart Transplant commanded 76.24% of the segment in 2025, which made it the clear procedural standard in the heart transplant market by transplant type. Its leadership rests on long-standing clinical practice, broader surgeon familiarity, and strong registry visibility across mature transplant systems. A retrospective cohort analysis of 1,205 recipients through December 2024 reported 1-year adult survival of 85% under a standardized institutional orthotopic protocol, which reinforces the role of protocol discipline in sustaining outcomes. This keeps Orthotopic Heart Transplant at the center of program design, payer coverage decisions, and training models. It also means that most preservation and allocation improvements still flow first into orthotopic workflows.

Heterotopic Heart Transplant is projected to expand at a 10.52% CAGR through 2031, which makes it the faster-growing transplant type in the heart transplant market. Its growth comes from use in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension or marked donor-recipient size mismatch, where orthotopic procedures may carry higher early risk. Research published in 2024 found that heterotopic survival was statistically indistinguishable from orthotopic survival during the first 4 years after transplant in properly selected patients, which has supported a more favorable clinical view of the procedure. This change does not displace orthotopic leadership, but it does widen the clinical use case for programs that treat complex recipients. In turn, the heart transplant market gains an additional route for procedure growth in cases that might otherwise remain unserved.

Complete Report Scope:

• By Surgery Type
  • Total Artificial Heart
  • Ventricular Assist Devices
  • Biventricular Pacing
  • Other Surgery Types
• By Transplant Type
  • Orthotopic Heart Transplant
  • Heterotopic Heart Transplant
• By Application
  • End-Stage Heart Failure
  • Congenital Heart Disease
  • Other Cardiac Conditions
• By End User
  • Hospitals and Specialty Clinics
  • Cardiac Institutes
  • Transplant Centers
  • Other End Users
• By Geography
  • North America
    • United States
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • Europe
    • Germany
    • United Kingdom
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Rest of Europe
  • Asia-Pacific
    • China
    • Japan
    • India
    • Australia
    • South Korea
    • Rest of Asia-Pacific
  • Middle East and Africa
    • GCC
    • South Africa
    • Rest of Middle East and Africa
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Rest of South America

Geography Analysis

North America held 41.61% of the global segment in 2025, which gave it the leading regional position in the heart transplant market. The United States remained the main driver because it performed 4,572 heart transplants in 2024 under OPTN oversight, supported by a large clinical base and established reimbursement channels. CMS also reinforced high-acuity transplant economics when the FY2026 Final IPPS Rule set the MS-DRG 001 reimbursement rate for heart transplant with MCC at USD 203,923. This framework continues to favor large academic centers that can manage donor logistics, advanced preservation, and complex post-operative care at scale. The heart transplant market size in North America remains strongly linked to U.S. procedure volume, infrastructure depth, and device adoption patterns.

Asia-Pacific is projected to expand at a 10.65% CAGR through 2031, making it the fastest-growing geography in the heart transplant market. China, Japan, and India remain the main growth anchors because each is scaling capacity from a different starting point. China is expanding hospital capability and specialist training, though transparent regulated volume data remain limited. Japan continues to face tight donor availability under its organ donation framework, which keeps interest high in alternative bridge strategies and highly specialized center models. India is seeing steady activity growth through large private cardiac hospitals and improved deceased donor procurement pathways, which makes the region an important future demand center in the heart transplant market.

Europe remains a major transplant base, led by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Cross-border coordination through Eurotransplant supports better organ sharing for member systems, while national performance still depends on domestic donor supply and program efficiency. The United Kingdom reported 174 adult heart transplants in 2024 to 2025, with 28% from DCD donors and a 90-day survival rate of 92.9%, which shows strong protocol maturity in DCD and NRP use. South America, the Middle East, and Africa remain more supply constrained, but they are still investing in capability and should add volume from lower current bases over time. The heart transplant market in these regions will depend heavily on donor system development, reimbursement support, and trained workforce growth.

List of Companies Covered in this Report:

• Abbott Laboratories
• Abiomed
• Astellas Pharma
• Berlin Heart
• BiVACOR
• Roche
• Getinge
• LivaNova
• Medtronic
• SynCardia Systems, LLC (Picard Medical, Inc.)
• Terumo
• Transmedics

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support