The market of ritual services grows against the background of inflation and increase in mortality
At the beginning of the year in Russia, the growth of the turnover of the funeral industry accelerated. From January to April, ritual organizations earned almost 40 billion rubles, which is 12.7% more than a year by the year, over the same period last year, compared with 2023, the growth was 9%. In the future, the market can grow due to the circumail, including due to tightening legislation.
In January – April of 2025, the Russian ritual services market grew by 12.7% year by year, to 39.5 billion rubles, Comed Based on Rosstat data. A year earlier, the market grew more restrained-9% compared to the same period of 2023. The current acceleration of growth rates is caused by inflation, which reached 10.23% by the end of April in annual terms and an increase in mortality. According to Rosstat, in January -April, 662.7 thousand people died in the country, which is 4.5% more than a year by the year.
Most of all funeral organizations earned in St. Petersburg: in January-April, their income amounted to almost 3.7 billion rubles, which is 12.8% more than a year by the year, it follows from the Rosstat.
In the suburbs, the total earnings of relevant organizations grew by 12.9%, to 3.2 billion rubles, in the Krasnodar Territory – by 12.2%, to 1.9 billion rubles, in Tatarstan – by 15.8%, up to 1.1 billion rubles, by 8.4%, up to 1.1 billion rubles.
After the Pandemia of Coronavirus, the market has been reduced, but now growth is observed again, the head of the Ritual.ru Civil Code Oleg Shelyagov notes. According to the director of the Novosibirsk crematorium, Boris Yakushin, in large regions, a significant part of the market can often be in the gray zone.
“Do not forget about the increase in prices for ritual goods and services, as well as an increase in the average cost of the ritual and the choice of more expensive coffins, services, monuments to part of the population,” says Anton Orlov, director of the Institute for Research of Modern Policy Problems. According to Rosstat, in April, the production of the coffin rose by 9% year by the year, to 8.2 thousand rubles, digging grave by 14.7%, to 11.6 thousand rubles. Also this year, in some segments, the geography of the procurement took place in the market in some segments. For example, earlier for the production of stone for the tombstones, Karelia was the leader, but already this year, due to lower prices, the company began to choose the products of Chinese manufacturers more often, says Boris Yakushin.
Experienced players in the funeral services market are forced to raise prices within inflation, and one-day firms, on the contrary, dump, notes Vladimir Voroshukha, director of the Nizhny Novgorod crematorium.
Although last year beginners became noticeably smaller. In January – March 2024, 195 new organizations and individual entrepreneurs in the field of ritual services were registered throughout Russia, calculated in the Contour. Focus (see Kommersant on May 8, 2024).
Most likely, in the future, the market will grow due to the circumail, Oleg Shelyagov believes. Vladimir Voroshukha agrees with him, who recalls that recently there have been reports that criminal cases have been instituted in different regions of the country against people who buy and sell information about death, as well as for violations during burial cemeteries. In addition, in May, responsibility for violations of rights in the field of personal data was tightened, due to which we can expect more transparency of the market and the growth of its volumes, Boris Yakushin summarizes.
