Cremation by country

Common card · No. 465236

Cremation rates vary widely across the world. As of 2019, international statistics report that countries with large Buddhist and Hindu populations like Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and India have a cremation rate ranging from 80% to 99%, while Roman Catholic majority-countries like Italy, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, and Portugal report much lower rates. Factors include both culture and religion; for example, the cremation rate in Muslim, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Roman Catholic majority countries is much lower due to religious sanctions on the practice of cremation, whereas for Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist majority countries the cremation rate is much higher. Economic and environmental factors may also affect the popularity of cremation. In many countries, cremation rates have increased in the 20th and 21st centuries, in part due to the cost of cemetery fees, coffins, and funerals. Environmental...

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