Download Our 2025 Funeral Costs Report
Losing a loved one is a distressing experience, often made more difficult by the stress involved in planning a funeral. This can be especially true if their loved one has not made any provision for meeting the cost of the funeral, or expressed any preferences about what sort of funeral they would like. For many people the financial strain involved when organising a funeral is likely to be an even greater source of stress today, as the cost of living crisis continues. But starting to think about funeral planning, including the costs, is the first step towards helping ensure your loved ones are able to plan and pay for a funeral after your death.
Our findings confirm that the costs involved can be substantial. Although every funeral is different, so costs vary, the scale of our research and the fact we repeat this research every year means that we can identify an upward trend in funeral costs. The average total cost of the funerals organised at some point in the past five years by respondents to our Funeral Planning survey was £5,212, up from the £4,515 average observed in 2023. Our findings also show that if additional elements are included in a funeral costs can be greater still: up to £11,348 for a burial service or £9,528 for a cremation.
Our findings confirm, as in previous years, that one of the biggest barriers to planning our own or someone else’s funerals before we or they die is the difficulty many people have in simply talking about this subject. Fewer than half (42%) of people questioned for our Funeral Opinions survey have discussed plans for their own funeral with someone else, while 36% have never discussed plans for either their own or someone else’s funeral.
This understandable, but potentially harmful reluctance to acknowledge our own mortality is part of the reason why almost half (48%) of people questioned for the Funeral Opinions survey have not yet made a will – including 24% of those aged 65 and over. If someone dies before they have made a will their loved ones are likely to face further significant practical problems, including a potential delay in granting probate.
This is a very difficult subject for all of us, but if we do prepare for our own funeral, or help a loved one plan their funeral, we will effectively create a small gift, of money, time and peace of mind, for our or their loved ones. Our intention is that this report will provide you with some of the information you need to make informed decisions about your own, or someone else’s funeral. We hope that this helps to ensure the best possible tribute to the person who has died – without adding to the difficulties faced by their loved ones.