New Zealand Blood Service Needs New Blood – Call Out To Gen Z To Activate Their Superpower And Start Saving Lives
New Zealand currently has just over 130,000 blood and plasma donors less than 4% of the eligible population.
9 – 15 June 2025
This National Blood Donor Week, New Zealand Blood Service is revealing new figures that show a significant drop in the number of youth donors on its registry over the past five years.
Since 2020, there has been a 25% decrease in the number of 16–25-year-olds who have donated at least once in a two-year period, dropping from 24,394 in April 2020 to 18,237 in April 2025. The average age of a blood or plasma donor in Aotearoa has increased to 43, and more than 18% (or 25,000) of donors are aged 60 and over.
While New Zealand Blood Service is encouraging eligible people of all ages to 'find their superpower' by becoming a blood or plasma donor, Chief Executive Sam Cliffe says the decline in youth donors is a worrying trend. She attributes much of this drop to the impact of COVID-19, which disrupted school-based donation programmes.
'For many people, their first introduction to blood donation was through their school or university. But the COVID-19 lockdowns and the lingering impacts of the pandemic has meant our donor recruitment teams have missed a whole cohort of young people to introduce to blood donation.
'In the last 12-months, 25% of our total donations came from donors aged over 60, and just 9% from donors aged 16-25. We're extremely grateful to all our donors, but when we look at our long-term supply strategy, its essential we start to encourage greater numbers of young people to become blood and plasma donors,' continues Sam.
'Anecdotally, we know that when people join the donor registry when they're young, they're more likely to become life-long donors, which is why historically our engagement through education has been so important.
'Blood and plasma donation is a quiet superpower with a big impact. It doesn't cost anything, doesn't take up too much of your time, but the result is powerful. Our app provides notifications to donors to let them know when their blood has been used to help save a life. And if you're a little bit unsure or nervous about making your first donation, you can do it with a friend!'
Bianca Koper, a 25-year-old PhD student and sports scientist for the Blues rugby team, donated for the first time last month at the Epsom Donor Centre.
'I didn't have a reason for not donating, I just never got around to it. One of my friends set herself a challenge to complete 25 donations before her 25th birthday and that was what encouraged me to book my first appointment.
'I was quite surprised by how straightforward the whole process was, it was easy to book an appointment, the reception staff are great at getting you set up with the paperwork, and once I was in the chair, it felt like the donation was over in a matter of minutes. I've already booked another appointment, this time to donate plasma.
'The snacks provided were definitely a bonus, but for me the best part was getting a notification about a week after I donated to say my blood had been used! It's a pretty special feeling knowing something you've done is helping to save lives.'
Facts and Stats about Blood Donation in Aotearoa
Every year around 30,000 people living in New Zealand have their lives saved or improved by blood, plasma and platelet donors.
New Zealand currently has just over 130,000 blood and plasma donors – less than 4% of the eligible population.
The average age of a donor who has donated at least once in the past two years is 43, and 18% of these donors are over 60.
New Zealand Blood Service needs to collect over 5,000 donations every week to meet demand.
There is no alternative to blood, blood donors save lives.
Just one whole blood donation can help save the lives of up to three people.
Plasma is the liquid component of our blood – it can be donated more often than blood (every two weeks) and turned into up to 11 different lifesaving products.
80% of Kiwis have A and O blood types.
Who needs your blood? Cancer patients 24%; accident and trauma patients 22%; people with liver, kidney & heart disease 11%; pregnant women, babies & children 6%; children including those with cancer 3%; bone surgery patients 6% and other medical conditions & surgical treatments 27%.
Why do we always need new donors?
Demand for plasma products is increasing every year, and in the next 12 months New Zealand Blood Service need to increase the plasma donor database by almost 20%, the equivalent of over 4,000 new donors, to continue to meet demand.
Increased demand for plasma is a not just a New Zealand phenomenon. It's happening around the world.
Red cells only have shelf life of 35 days, and platelets have shelf life of seven days. Plasma can be frozen for up to two years. This means we are in a constant cycle of collection.
Every year around 25,000 people leave the active donor database for a variety of reasons, including health, age, relocation and personal choice.
Discover your inner superpower and join New Zealand Blood Service's marvellous donor universe. For more information on donating blood or plasma and to book an appointment, either download the NZ Blood App, visit nzblood.co.nz or call 0800 448 325.
About New Zealand Blood Service
New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) in a not-for-profit Crown entity responsible for the collection, processing, testing and storage and distribution of all blood and blood products in New Zealand.
We rely on voluntary and non-remunerated blood donations from individuals around the country in order to provide a constant supply of precious blood and blood products used by our health services to save thousands of lives.
NZBS also provides cell and tissue products and related services to meet public health needs and maintains national oversight of organ donation and distribution.
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