The market for funerals has proven to be resilient through the downturn and beyond, growing by 38.5% between 2009 and 2014. Despite the trend towards falling mortality rates over the past decade, increasing shortages of burial space and rising disbursement fees have pushed up the average cost of organising a funeral.

The topic of funerals and dying is still very sensitive, with marketers and companies willing to broach the subject with consumers few and far between. However, Mintel research shows that the majority amongst British over-50s are open to discussing their preferences for their own funerals and this openness also correlates strongly with the number of steps they take in order to be prepared for the future.

Businesses operating in the funerals market would do well to not shy away from this ‘taboo’ topic and open conversations with people about addressing their specific future needs today, in the name of greater peace of mind for themselves and their families later on.

This report looks at how the market for funerals is performing and examines the factors and innovations that are driving the growth. It will further illustrate consumer attitudes towards discussing their funeral wishes, the types of funerals they would prefer, the steps they took to prepare for their end-of-life and their attitudes towards meeting future funeral costs.

Mintel conducted consumer research in May 2014 on a sample of 904 adults aged 50+.

The demographic analysis used in this report also includes Acorn classification, which categorises the UK’s population into demographic types after analysing social factors and population behaviour.