Death in the UK - Statistics & Facts
After increasing throughout most of the last century, life expectancy in the UK has fallen since 2020, and was at its lowest level in more than a decade in 2022. Throughout the 2010s improvements to life expectancy stalled while the crude death rate steadily increased, before rising sharply in 2020.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was clear here, with 2020 seeing the most deaths in a single year since 1918.
Although the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic looks to be behind the UK, the decline in life expectancy has continued. The increasing financial cost of dying to individuals and families is an additional worry during tough economic times, with the cost of funerals showing no signs of declining.
COVID-19 in the UK
Although the UK had some respite from the virus initially, the number of cases began to rise dramatically by March 2020, resulting in a lockdown in large parts of UK society. The subsequent social distancing that took place certainly helped the National Health Service (NHS) prevent an even bigger disaster, but the virus had already taken hold. From the last week of March onwards, the weekly number of deaths in England and Wales started to exceed the corresponding weeks between 2014 and 2019, at first by 1,000, then by 6,000, and by 8,000. Between April 10 and April 24, there were over 23,000 excess deaths in England and Wales, or almost 12,000 excess deaths per week. By the week ending on June 19, 2020, the number of excess deaths in England and Wales finally dropped below the five-year average, an important milestone in the fight against the virus.Cost of dying in UK approaches 10,000 pounds
The average cost of dying in the United Kingdom in 2024 was approximately 9,797 British pounds, an increase of over 3,000 pounds when compared with 2008. In terms of 'send-off' costs, by category, around 1,037 pounds is spent on the memorial, with other costs including catering, at 476 pounds, and flowers, at 220 pounds, among many other expenses. Like with many other services in the UK, a funeral is more expensive in London with average funeral costs in the capital just over 1,160 pounds more expensive than the rest of the country. As for the the workforce that is responsible for providing these services, such as undertakers, mortuary assistants and crematorium assistants, there were approximately 17,500 in the third quarter of 2024.Although the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic looks to be behind the UK, the decline in life expectancy has continued. The increasing financial cost of dying to individuals and families is an additional worry during tough economic times, with the cost of funerals showing no signs of declining.
