Funeral Cost Index — Q2 2026
UK funeral pricing: Q2 2026
Based on CMA Standardised Price Lists captured from 3,278 UK funeral directors, the median UK direct cremation price is £1,545 and the median funeral director’s fee for an attended cremation is £2,890. Across regions, the median direct cremation ranges from £1,385 in North East to £1,945 in Northern Ireland — a 40% premium between the most and least expensive regions.
Headline figures
- Median direct cremation
- £1,545
- Median attended funeral
- £2,890
- Funeral directors surveyed
- 3,278
- CMA compliance rate observed
- 67%
all-in, with cremation fee
funeral director’s charges only
with published price list
of indexed providers
Direct cremation, by region
Median price for an unattended (direct) cremation, by UK region. Regions with fewer than five captured prices are excluded.
| Region | Median | Range (P25–P75) | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | £1,945 | £1,757 – £2,003 | 16 |
| London | £1,745 | £1,475 – £1,990 | 81 |
| South East | £1,595 | £1,240 – £1,895 | 695 |
| North West | £1,545 | £1,240 – £1,646 | 396 |
| West Midlands | £1,545 | £1,240 – £1,900 | 216 |
| East Midlands | £1,545 | £1,240 – £1,745 | 166 |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £1,545 | £1,240 – £1,950 | 221 |
| South West | £1,545 | £1,240 – £1,775 | 310 |
| Wales | £1,535 | £1,240 – £1,645 | 133 |
| East of England | £1,475 | £1,240 – £1,645 | 220 |
| Scotland | £1,450 | £1,240 – £1,640 | 239 |
| North East | £1,385 | £1,240 – £1,646 | 124 |
Chain vs. independent pricing
Median direct cremation and median attended funeral fee, grouped by ownership.
| Ownership | Median direct cremation | Median attended funeral | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| co-op | £1,240 | £3,265 | 491 |
| unknown | £1,545 | £2,895 | 956 |
| independent | £1,550 | £2,450 | 771 |
| dignity | £1,645 | £2,795 | 470 |
| funeral_partners | £1,995 | £3,490 | 158 |
Methodology
All prices are sourced from each funeral director’s own CMA Standardised Price List, the format mandated by the Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021. Where multiple branches operate under one corporate banner, each branch is included as a separate observation. Medians are computed as the 50th percentile across the latest captured snapshot per provider. Regional groupings follow standard UK postcode-area mapping. The full data documentation, including field definitions and update cadence, is published at /about/data.
Snapshot generated: 2026-05-05. Source: Funeral Cost Index dataset (3,278 captured price lists).
Citation
Funeral Cost Index — Q2 2026, 2026-05-05. Funeral Cost Index, Indexeli Intelligence Limited. https://funeralcostindex.co.uk/data/2026-q2