There are 8 different blood types (A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, AB-). The most well known and medically important blood types are in the ABO group. They were discovered in 1900 and 1901 at the University of Vienna by Karl Landsteiner in the process of trying to learn why blood transfusions sometimes cause death and at other times save a patient. In 1930, he belatedly received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of blood types.
All humans and many other primates can be typed for the ABO blood group. There are four principal types: A, B, AB, and O. There are two antigens and two antibodies that are mostly responsible for the ABO types. The specific combination of these four components determines an individual’s type in most cases. The table below shows the possible permutations of antigens and antibodies with the corresponding ABO type (“yes” indicates the presence of a component and “no” indicates its absence in the blood of an individual).
ABO Blood Type |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antigen A |
Antigen B |
Antibody anti-A |
Antibody Anti-B |
|||
A | yes | no | no | yes | ||
B | no | yes | yes | no | ||
O | no | no | yes | yes | ||
AB | yes | yes | no | no |
Blood Types
- A+
- A-
- B+
- B-
- O+
- O-
- AB+
- AB-
Blood type A
- As type A blood is common, it is in constant demand and more is always needed.
- By giving blood regularly you can help other As and also people with AB blood types.
Blood type B
- As type B is one of the rarest blood types, B type blood donors are always needed, particularly for plasma donations.
- By giving plasma regularly, you can help people with B and O blood types.
Blood type O
- As type O blood is the most common, it is in constant demand and more is always needed.
- By giving blood regularly you can help other Os and also people with AB, A and B blood types.
Blood type AB
- Even though type AB is the rarest blood type, type AB plasma can help people with any blood type. So, more type AB plasma donors are always needed.
- By giving plasma regularly you can help people with AB, O, B and A blood types.
ABO and Rh distribution by country
Country | Population | O+ | A+ | B+ | AB+ | O- | A- | B- | AB- |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 22,015,576 | 40% | 31% | 8% | 2% | 9% | 7% | 2% | 1% |
Austria | 8,219,743 | 30% | 37% | 12% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 2% | 1% |
Belgium | 10,438,353 | 37% | 38% | 7% | 2.5% | 7% | 7% | 1% | 0.5% |
Brazil | 198,739,269 | 36% | 34% | 8% | 2.5% | 9% | 8% | 2% | 0.5% |
Canada | 33,487,208 | 39% | 36% | 7.6% | 2.5% | 7% | 6% | 1.4% | 0.5% |
Denmark | 5,500,510 | 35% | 37% | 8% | 4% | 6% | 7% | 2% | 1% |
Estonia | 1,299,371 | 30% | 31% | 20% | 6% | 4.5% | 4.5% | 3% | 1% |
Finland | 5,250,275 | 27% | 38% | 15% | 7% | 4% | 6% | 2% | 1% |
France | 62,150,775 | 36% | 37% | 9% | 3% | 6% | 7% | 1% | 1% |
Germany | 82,329,758 | 35% | 37% | 9% | 4% | 6% | 6% | 2% | 1% |
Hong Kong | 7,055,071 | 40% | 26% | 27% | 7% | 0.31% | 0.19% | 0.14% | 0.05% |
Hungary | 10,198,315 | 31% | 38% | 18.8% | 12.2% | ||||
Iceland | 306,694 | 47.6% | 26.4% | 9.3% | 1.6% | 8.4% | 4.6% | 1.7% | 0.4% |
India | 1,166,079,217 | 36.5% | 22.1% | 30.9% | 6.4% | 2.0% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 0.2% |
Ireland | 4,203,200 | 47% | 26% | 9% | 2% | 8% | 5% | 2% | 1% |
Israel | 7,233,701 | 32% | 34% | 17% | 7% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 1% |
Italy | 60,742,397 | 40% | 36% | 7.5% | 2.5% | 7% | 6% | 1.5% | 0.5% |
Japan | 127,799,000 | 29.9% | 39.8% | 19.9% | 9.9% | 0.15% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.05% |
Netherlands | 16,715,999 | 39.5% | 35% | 6.7% | 2.5% | 7.5% | 7% | 1.3% | 0.5% |
New Zealand | 4,213,418 | 38% | 32% | 9% | 3% | 9% | 6% | 2% | 1% |
Norway | 5,000,000 | 34% | 40.8% | 6.8% | 3.4% | 6% | 7.2% | 1.2% | 0.6% |
Poland | 38,482,919 | 31% | 32% | 15% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 2% | 1% |
Portugal | 10,707,924 | 36.2% | 39.8% | 6.6% | 2.9% | 6.0% | 6.6% | 1.1% | 0.5% |
Saudi Arabia | 28,686,633 | 48% | 24% | 17% | 4% | 4% | 2% | 1% | 0.23% |
South Africa | 49,320,000 | 39% | 32% | 12% | 3% | 7% | 5% | 2% | 1% |
Spain | 48,125,002 | 36% | 34% | 8% | 2.5% | 9% | 8% | 2% | 0.5% |
Sweden | 9,433,875 | 32% | 37% | 10% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 2% | 1% |
Taiwan | 24,000,000 | 43.9% | 25.9% | 23.9% | 6.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.01% | 0.02% |
Turkey | 76,805,524 | 29.8% | 37.8% | 14.2% | 7.2% | 3.9% | 4.7% | 1.6% | 0.8% |
United Kingdom | 61,113,205 | 37% | 35% | 8% | 3% | 7% | 7% | 2% | 1% |
Ukraine | 45,706,120 | ~40% | ~10% | ||||||
United States | 307,212,123 | 37.4% | 35.7% | 8.5% | 3.4% | 6.6% | 6.3% | 1.5% | 0.6% |
Population-weighted mean | (total population = 2,261,025,244) | 36.44% | 28.27% | 20.59% | 5.06% | 4.33% | 3.52% | 1.39% | 0.45% |