Your blood type

How do I find out my blood group to donate?

You do not need to know your blood group to donate blood. We will do that part for you.

After you donate, we’ll send you a blood donor card to confirm your blood type.

You can be one of four different blood groups: O, A, B and AB.

These groups are also assigned either Rh D negative or Rh D positive, for example: O Rh D negative (usually shortened to O- or O neg).

If you’ve given blood with us, we’ll send you a donor card in the post with your blood type. Please be aware this can take up to 8 weeks. If you’re still waiting for your card after this time, you can request an update here.

What blood groups are the most or least common?

The most common blood group for people living in the UK (44%) is the O group blood, followed by the A blood group (42%).

This means these blood groups are the most commonly requested by hospitals for patients in need.

The least common blood groups are B (10%) and AB (4%) blood groups.

More patients can receive negative blood groups, yet only 15 per cent of people have a negative blood group. Most people (85%) have a positive blood group.

Is there one group that is extra special?

It doesn’t matter how common or how rare your blood group is, we still need to collect enough to ensure it’s there for patients in need across Wales at one of the 20 hospitals we supply.

O negative blood, which is around 10 per cent of the population, can be given to anyone in emergencies and is also used for transfusions into babies, making it vital for each of the hospitals we support.