We take a look at the latest research on funeral trends, costs and attitudes over the past year. Now in its 21st year, the SunLife ‘Cost of Dying 2025 Report’ provides a comprehensive view of changes to funerals over time.
We are often presented with statistics about the rising cost of funerals, but it is always helpful to look at how these costs are broken down, and also how they have changed over time. The SunLife Cost of Dying 2025 Report report provides a review based on interviews during 2024 with 100 funeral directors across the UK and with 1,5,11 individuals who have been involved in organising a funeral over the past 4 years.
It is important to remember that this is just a snapshot based on a sample of the population, but it gives us an insight into what might be happening throughout the UK.
Read on to find out more.
What Type of Funeral are People Choosing?
The number of people choosing direct cremation remains the same for 2024 at 20%. The number of burials is 2% lower than 2023, and there has been an increase of 2% in people choosing to be cremated.
The Cost of Dying and the Cost of a Basic Funeral
The SunLife report bases its average cost of dying on a simple attended funeral. It is important to remember that this may not be what the majority of people are having, so this is just an approximation based on one type of funeral.
According to the Report, the cost of dying (funeral fees plus professional fees and send-off costs) is at an all-time high of £9,797, up 1.4% on 2023. The cost of a simple, attended funeral has risen to £4,285, up 3.5% on the previous year, and the cost of an unattended direct cremation was £1,597, up 6.7%.
These are average costs. How much we pay for a funeral does, of course, depend on a number of factors such as the type of funeral, how many ‘extras’ we choose, and where it takes place. So, for example, the average cost of a simple attended funeral in Northern Ireland was lowest at £3,441, whereas in London it was highest at £5,449.
The type of burial or cremation also affects the cost, as we can see below:
How Much is an Average Send-off?
Alongside the basic funeral, most people choose at least some optional extras, including elements that make the day feel more personal to the person who has died. This might include some sort of gathering, such as a celebration of life, funeral reception, or memorial service.
According to the SunLife Report, the average cost of a send-off in 2024 was £2,861, up 3.4% on the previous year. Here’s what this includes:
Who is Paying and How?
The Report suggests that before they die 68% of people make some sort of provision to pay for their funeral. Of this 68%, 46% use savings and investments, up 2% on the previous year, and 40% take out a pre-paid funeral plan, up 3%.
Although 68% of people put aside money for their funeral, their research suggests that in 56% of cases there is a short-fall. One third of people surveyed said that the cost-of-living crisis impacted how they organised and/or paid for the funeral, and 44% said that worry about paying for a funeral had a significant impact on their mental health.
However, despite the sizeable cost of a funeral, 63% of organisers do not get price comparisons from more than one funeral director, although 58% report that they did cut back on other aspects of the funeral.
Knowing Our Loved One’s Funeral Wishes
Very little has changed over the past year in terms of how much people talk about or know their loved one’s funeral wishes. 18% don’t know any of their loved one’s funeral wishes, and just over half don’t know whether their loved one wanted to be buried or cremated. Less than 1% know all of their loved one’s funeral wishes.
Our Own Funeral Wishes
Similarly, very little has changed when it comes to organising our own funeral and letting others know about our funeral wishes. Whilst arranging a funeral prompts 65% or organisers to start thinking about their own funeral, 21% said that they haven’t yet made any of their wishes known.
Whilst the number of people who have spoken about their funeral preferences with someone else is just 26%, many do have some idea of what they want. Once again, top of the list was that they would like their family to spend as little money as possible (35%), followed by 28% who would like a standard/typical funeral. 8% said that they would like to leave it to their family to decide. Just 2% want a lavish or expensive funeral.
Celebration of Life and Alternative Funerals
Half of all funeral services in 2024 were described by organisers as a ‘celebration of life’. This may be denoted by things like the choice of location and music, readings and light-hearted speeches, having a colourful or unusual dress code, or even personalised coffins.
These are some of the multiple ways that people described their services:
Religious Funerals
51% of funeral organisers said that the funeral they arranged was religious, although over two thirds of funeral directors say they have seen a drop in the number of traditional religious funerals.
These are the religious traditions the religious services followed:
What Are People Doing With Their Loved One’s Ashes?
More than half of funeral organisers said that the ashes of their loved one have been, or will be, scattered (51%), others said that the family will keep the ashes (27%), that they will be buried (20%), or something else (2%).
If ashes are being scattered, this is where people chose to do so:
Conclusion
This is a just a small snapshot of some of the interesting information that the SunLife Report highlights. To read the full Report and to see comparisons of statistics for previous years, please go to SunLife’s Cost of Dying 2025 Report.
At whiteballoon, we passionately believe that being informed about funeral options and costs empowers people and gives them the confidence to make choices that are right for them and for those they love. Our Information and Inspiration pages, and useful Planning Tools, can help people with these choices and connect them to the people and service they might need. We hope that this snapshot of funeral costs and trends from SunLife gives people an insight into the types of things it is helpful to be thinking about, both for themselves and for their loved ones.
Note: All statistics are taken from the SunLife’s Cost of Dying 2025 Report.