This article is a list of countries by cremation rate. Cremation rates vary widely across the world with some countries like Japan having a rate over 95% while other countries like Italy and Poland having less than 10%.
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China cremates more people each year than any other country, reporting 4,534,000 cremations out of 9,348,453 deaths (a 48.50% rate) in 2008.[1]
Japan has one of the highest cremation rates in the world with the country reporting a cremation rate of 99.85% in 2008.[1]
The cremation rate in the United Kingdom has been increasing steadily with the national average rate rising from 34.70% in 1960 to 72.44% in 2008.[2]
The cremation rate in Canada has been increasing steadily with the national average rate rising from 5.89% in 1970 to 68.4% in 2009.[3][4] The rates vary greatly among the provinces with the most recent (1999) province level statistics showing that British Columbia had the highest rate at 74% while Prince Edward Island had the lowest rate at 8.5%.[5]
The cremation rate in the United States has been increasing steadily with the national average rate rising from 24.10% in 1998 to 36.86% in 2009 and projections from the National Funeral Directors Association forecasting a rate of 46.04% in 2015 and 58.85% in 2025.[6] The rates vary considerably among the states with the highest rates (over 60%) being reported in the Western United States with the lowest rates (under 25%) being reported in the Southern United States.[7]
The following table lists the 2006 cremation rate for each state including the national average.
| No | Jurisdiction | Rate (%)[8] |
|---|---|---|
| - | United States | 33.52% |
| 1 | Nevada | 68.41% |
| 2 | Washington | 67.57% |
| 3 | Hawaii | 65.60% |
| 4 | Oregon | 65.25% |
| 5 | Arizona | 59.66% |
| 6 | Montana | 59.40% |
| 7 | Colorado | 57.83% |
| 8 | Maine | 55.61% |
| 9 | Alaska | 55.04% |
| 10 | Vermont | 54.26% |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 53.94% |
| 12 | Florida | 51.78% |
| 13 | California | 50.50% |
| 14 | Wyoming | 49.63% |
| 15 | Idaho | 48.26% |
| 16 | New Mexico | 47.02% |
| 17 | Minnesota | 40.46% |
| 18 | Michigan | 38.62% |
| 19 | District of Columbia (capital, not state) | 38.26% |
| 20 | Connecticut | 37.22% |
| 21 | Delaware | 33.06% |
| 22 | Rhode Island | 31.77% |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 31.53% |
| 24 | Massachusetts | 31.15% |
| 25 | Illinois | 29.56% |
| 26 | Pennsylvania | 29.09% |
| 27 | Nebraska | 28.30% |
| 28 | Maryland | 28.22% |
| 29 | Kansas | 27.91% |
| 30 | New Jersey | 27.76% |
| 31 | New York | 27.72% |
| 32 | Virginia | 27.22% |
| 33 | North Carolina | 25.10% |
| 34 | Missouri | 24.83% |
| 35 | Ohio | 24.77% |
| 36 | Texas | 23.76% |
| 37 | Iowa | 23.33% |
| 38 | Utah | 22.77% |
| 39 | Oklahoma | 22.72% |
| 40 | Georgia | 22.10% |
| 41 | South Carolina | 21.94% |
| 42 | Indiana | 21.88% |
| 43 | South Dakota | 20.79% |
| 44 | Arkansas | 20.36% |
| 45 | North Dakota | 19.26% |
| 46 | West Virginia | 16.56% |
| 47 | Louisiana | 16.18% |
| 48 | Tennessee | 15.99% |
| 49 | Kentucky | 12.32% |
| 50 | Alabama | 11.05% |
| 51 | Mississippi | 9.56% |
The cremation rate in Australia is quite high, being similar to other English speaking countries like Canada. Records show that slightly over 65% of all deaths were cremated in 2008.[1]
New Zealand's rate is slightly higher than Australia's, with 70% of all deaths being cremations in 2008.[1]
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