CANA Releases 2025 Annual Cremation Statistics Report: Shows National Cremation Rate Growth Slowing
WHEELING, IL— The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) continues its commitment to providing accurate and comprehensive cremation statistics to the death care industry and consumers. With over 25 years of data collection from state and provincial vital statistics departments, CANA’s cremation statistics are widely regarded as the most reliable and current in the field. The latest reports for 2025 have been released, featuring final 2023 cremation data, newly released 2024 data, and projections to 2029 and 2034.
CANA’s research shows that the national cremation rate has grown steadily and predictably for the last 50 years, indicating that neither the recession nor the pandemic have influenced the growth rate on a national level. After decades of rapid growth in the United States, CANA can confirm that the national growth rate is slowing after reaching 61.8% in 2024. It is a common statistical occurrence for the growth rate to slow once it hits 80%.
SLOWER, BUT STEADY GROWTH IN CREMATION NATIONALLY
CANA’s 2025 Annual Statistics Report shows that the annual cremation growth rate is slowing overall. This supports the association’s observation over the past few years that the US is entering a “deceleration” period of cremation. The US is 15 years behind Canada, where the cremation rate surpassed 76.7% in 2024.
By 2033, CANA research predicts the cremation rate in all states will reach or exceed 50%, with the national rate surpassing 70%. In 2025, there are only six states where the cremation rate has not yet reached 50%; six states and four provinces have already surpassed 80%. After adding a new color to the popular “heat” maps of cremation rates to highlight the individual states and provinces with cremation rates above 80%, CANA has now retired the color that indicated states where the cremation rate had not reached 30%.
“These cremation statistics can be applied to a range of business decisions, helping you to weigh your options in a number of ways,” said CANA President Ryan Wiseman, co-owner of Porter Funeral Homes in Kansas City, KS, and Lenexa, KS, and the Cremation Society of Kansas and Missouri, which has four locations around the Kansas City area. “I can speak from personal experience about the value and practical application for this information when you’re looking for help to guide the choices you make on behalf of your business. The CANA statistics were fundamental in helping us make the decision to open our Cremation Society location 20 years ago. Based on the data in CANA’s annual report, we were able to project what the future was to bring and estimate what families would be looking for when a loved one would die.”
OTHER FORMS OF DISPOSITION
CANA tracks data on all forms of disposition, including the newest forms of cremation – alkaline hydrolysis (AH, also known as water cremation) and natural organic reduction (NOR, also known as human composting). Practitioners, consumers and media outlets often ask about the effect of new forms of disposition on the cremation rate, but CANA’s estimated data shows that AH and NOR processes remain a negligible factor at this point. They account for 0.3% in states where the methods are practiced and 0.1% nationally. AH and NOR are not currently affecting the cremation rates at the state, provincial or national levels.
ABOUT CANA RESEARCH
The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) publishes the Annual Cremation Statistics Report and other research to illuminate trends in the profession. This research is often used by the media to shape their articles and by CANA’s members to guide their future business plans. Derived from six data models, CANA publishes projections with accuracy, leaning conservative, to deliver reliable information to the leaders of the profession.
In addition to the Annual Statistics Report, CANA will be conducting several other research projects to provide insights into cremation arrangement practices, modern cremation practices, and consumer awareness and preference for traditional and emerging disposition methods. The association remains committed to gathering accurate and comprehensive cremation statistics to serve the needs of the death care industry and consumers.
CANA research is available exclusively for members of the association. For more information on CANA’s statistics, visit www.cremationassociation.org/IndustryStatistics.
CANA Members can read the full report in The Cremationist or log in to www.cremationassociation.org/CremationistMagazine.
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About CANA
Founded in 1913, the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) is an international organization of over 3,700 members, composed of funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, industry suppliers, and consultants. CANA members believe that cremation is preparation for memorialization.
