In Kazakhstan, 34.7% of citizens in 2026 will not be able to organize a funeral for a loved one without borrowing money. Among pensioners, this figure reaches 41.2%, reports infohub.kz.
According to a study by the analytical service Ranking, the situation has remained consistently difficult for several years: since 2023, about a third of respondents admit that they cannot independently cover the costs of funeral rites. The survey considered various ceremonies, from weddings to memorials, but funerals are the hardest to plan for in advance.
The most prepared for large unplanned expenses were Kazakhs aged 29 to 38: 71.5% of them said they could manage without debt.
The volume of the funeral services market in the country grew 3.5 times in a year, from 6.4 billion tenge in 2024 to 22.2 billion tenge in 2025. Of this amount, 7.4 billion tenge went to funeral home services, and 14.8 billion to burial and cremation. However, actual family expenses are significantly higher: these figures do not include costs for coffins, clothing, and memorial meals.
According to industry reviews cited by Ranking.kz, a standard funeral in major cities of Kazakhstan costs 250,000–600,000 tenge, and with many guests and additional services, the amount can be even higher. Prices for funeral services continue to rise: since the beginning of the year, they have increased by an average of 6.6%, with a 20% increase in the Aktobe region.
A financial safety net is lacking for a significant portion of the population: 17.5% of respondents admitted they could not find even 30,000–40,000 tenge for unexpected expenses, and among pensioners, that figure is 21%.
Earlier, Kursiv reported on the launch of a pilot service for registering pre-mortem consent to cremation. You can submit or revoke a decision online via the eGov portal; the service is free and takes about 15 minutes. The data is stored in the Ministry of Health system and becomes available to authorized persons only after death registration. The country's first crematorium opened in Almaty on April 30, 2026: by August, six cremations had been performed there with more than 40 applications. The cost of cremation is 240,000 tenge.