Brazil Funeral and Cremation Service Market Overview, 2029

The history of the funeral and cremation services market in Brazil is rich and reflects cultural, social, and legislative developments. Traditionally, it has been burial, though influenced by the predominantly Catholic population of the country, who put a great emphasis on the sanctity of a person's body and, subsequently, burial. However, over the past two decades, there has been a visible trend towards cremation, impelled by the process of urbanization, changing public attitudes, and worries about the environment. Legislatively, through the Brazilian government, there exist legislation that oversees funeral services. Specifically, the Brazilian Federal Law No. 8,078/90 known as the Consumer Protection Code governs standards in which funeral service providers assure consumers clear information concerning costs and services. Several municipalities have legislations related to cemeteries and crematories, considering licensing and operation standards. Technical specifications for crematories, which specify requirements for health and safety, were regulated in 2008 by the National Institute of Metrology, Quality, and Technology (Inmetro). Local and international players operating in the Brazilian funeral and cremation services market are the major active players, providing services ranging from traditional funerals to cremation services. Large players in the industry include Grupo Vila, with its various funeral parlors and crematories nationwide, and Pax, known for its large chain of funeral services and crematoriums. All these houses provide one-stop-shop services from transport to body preparation and memorial services—to be able to capture the market with varying consumer preferences. The same is also reflected in the interest private equity and investment firms have been showing in this sector, probably due to the growth prospects. For example, in the recent past, private equity firms have bought stakes in funeral service providers that were growing their operations pretty aggressively and expanding their service offerings.

According to the research report "Brazil Funeral and Cremation Services Market Overview, 2029," published by Bonafide Research, the Brazil funeral and cremation services market is expected to reach a market size of more than USD 3 Billion by 2029. Through cultural changes, it becomes easier to influence the funeral and cremation services market in Brazil. The prevalence of cremation practices in Brazil has always been low because Brazilian society, with its majorly Catholic heritage, often pushed for burial practices as a way to respect and pay homage to their dead. However, changing attitudes, especially among the young, have led to increased acceptance of cremation. This shift is highly motivated by urbanization and space constraints in densely populated areas where families could not find burial plots. In the result, cremation is becoming the practical and cost-effective alternative that is showing greater acceptance of the diversity in end-of-life practice. Another very important cultural change is increasing personalization in funeral service. The need to create an epitome, moving away from the 'cookie cutter' kind of services to more personalized ones, is increasing among families. With this shift towards authenticity and wanting to be unique, funeral service providers offer packages that can be tailored for a specific person a detailing of the loved one's life, his values, and even personality. There is also a way that technology integration is transforming the funeral industry in Brazil. As the world plunges into digitalized communication, most families nowadays seek online resources for information and services. Funeral homes try hard to integrate technology in a shift towards giving clients better experiences, from virtual consultation, online booking, to digital memorial services. This integration does not only make operations easier but also meets the requirements of more tech-savvy young consumers who need convenience and accessibility.

The cremation segment is likely to lead the market in Brazil, driven by urbanization, environmental, and cost factors. As a result of rapid urbanization, there is a shortage of land for burials through the traditional method; cremation is more feasible. The rising environmental awareness among Brazilians also adds to segment leadership, as cremation is perceived to be more environment-friendly compared to traditional burial procedures. Other major factors contributing to its choice are the low cost of cremation compared to other traditional burials; considering that many families face economic pressures. Another factor contributing to its acceptance is secularization and changing religious beliefs that increasingly gain acceptance of cremation. The Funeral Planning Services segment is likely to exhibit tremendous growth, thanks to increasing awareness and acceptance of pre-planning funerals. This trend is more pronounced in urban areas, where people are rapidly embracing the convenience, emotional benefits, and cost savings of planning ahead. Another force that helped boost this segment was the aging population of Brazil, with more seniors looking to take some burden off their families by pre-planning their funerals. Transportation means the transferring of the body from the place of death to the funeral home, crematorium, or cemetery. Again, this segment forms an inherent part of the industry, directly linked to the overall death rate and growing demand for funeral services. In Brazil, this service is often provided by both organized players and local, unorganized service providers. It entails the embalming and cosmetics preparation of the body for the deceased prior to interment or entombment. While this segment is very vital, particularly for the more significant Christian population of which a majority exist in the country, it has slow growth compared to the cremation segment due to increased cremation popularity. Others include memorial ceremonies, grief counseling, repatriation of human remains, and selling related merchandise, such as urns, caskets, and memorial jewelry.

The segment that seems to be ruling the market in Brazil at present is the Immediate Need category. This includes families whose immediate need could be a funeral or cremation due to a recent death or unexpected death. The reason for this strong dominance of this segment can be related to the cultural and religious history, which lays emphasis on the prompt disposal of the deceased body. For example, most Brazilians are Christians, and, in many traditional Christian funerals, services take place a few days after the death. Another factor that supports the leadership of the immediate need segment is a lack of awareness and acceptance of pre-planning funerals. Most families still do not plan these events in advance, which demand more for the immediate need. This difficulty of the majority of families to absorb pre-planned services is, therefore, driven by a very unstable economic context and great income inequalities in Brazil, which seems to strengthen the dominance of the immediate need segment. A few emerging trends drive the pre-planned segment. First is the raising awareness amongst urban Brazilians for pre-planning their funerals or cremations. It helps consumers to make their own decisions as to what services to take at the end of life, reduces the burden on loved ones from having to make those difficult emotional and financial decisions, and ensures that pre-planned or prepaid choices are carried out. The ageing population of Brazil further adds to the growth in this segment as more seniors want to lighten their family's burden by pre-planning their funerals. Also, the growing middle class in Brazil is gradually becoming aware of the practical and emotional benefits that pre-planning affords.

The market today is dominated by the offline segment, comprising traditional funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematoria where all services are arranged in person. This position the offline channel holds presently might be because, in Brazil, death and funeral rites are very strongly culturally and religiously driven. Many families still prefer the personal touch, and the sort of emotional support associated with the more traditional, face-to-face offline services at times of bereavement. Furthermore, the major factors providing support for offline segment growth are a lack of awareness, trust, and access to online services in the older generation and rural areas. Indeed, an infrastructure already set up and local ad-hoc networks can be attributed to the dominance of offline service providers. The Online segment is growing rapidly, in part driven by rising internet penetration and digital literacy among Brazilians. This growth trend is more perceptible in urban areas, very specifically for consumers who are more tech-savvy and seeking convenience, transparency, and efficiency. Online platforms allow families to compare services, prices, and reviews of funeral homes, hence making more informed decisions. Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this demand surges for online services, since social distancing measures have called for remote arrangements and virtual memorial services. The online segment also benefits from the growing demographic of young and middle-aged consumers who are most familiar with technology and e-commerce. Online services facilitate easy planning of funerals, obtaining grief support, and buying related products.



Considered in this report
• Historic year: 2018
• Base year: 2023
• Estimated year: 2024
• Forecast year: 2029

Aspects covered in this report
• Funereal Service market Outlook with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Provider
• The Funeral Director
• Embalming Services
• Mortician Services
• Funeral Homes With Crematories
• Visitation Or Viewing Services
• Graveside Committal
• Selling Funeral Supplies
• Transporting The Deceased

By Service
• Cremation
• Funeral Planning Services
• Transportation
• Body Preparation And Interment
• Others

By Application
• Immediate need
• Pre-Planned

By Distribution Channel
• Online
• Offline

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary and secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list the companies that are present in it. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual reports of companies, and government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources, primary research was conducted by conducting telephone interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this; we have started making primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting them in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us, we can start verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations, and organizations related to the Funereal Service industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing and presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.