Burial fees in Espoo will increase

Finnish government funding for parishes has been significantly reduced in recent years. The reduction for Evangelical Lutheran parish unions in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area totals approximately EUR 9.6 million, or approximately 39%, from 2024 to 2026. This also has a direct impact on the funding of funeral services.

The Espoo Joint Parish Council decided on the price lists at its meeting on 17 December

In Espoo, the greatest need for an increase lies in the total costs of memorial grove burial and cremation fees.

• The fee for redeeming an urn-burial plot and burial will rise from EUR 489 to EUR 665.
• The fee for scattering ashes and burial in the memorial grove will rise from EUR 381 to EUR 590.
• The fee for redeeming a coffin-burial plot and burial will rise from EUR 1,040 to EUR 1,320.

In the suggested price list, the fees are higher to those who are not residents in Espoo.  

Additional adjustments for 2027 are expected in the entire Helsinki Metropolitan Area if the planned changes to the allocation criteria for central government funding are realised.

Funeral services have already implemented some measures to control costs, and in 2026, new ways of saving will be surveyed, if necessary, to prevent price increases from becoming excessive for relatives.

Funeral services serve everyone living in Finland

Funeral services are a statutory task assigned to parishes and partly funded by the Finnish government. The Ministry of Education and Culture grants annual funding to the Evangelical Lutheran Church for carrying out tasks related to funeral services, population records and the maintenance of buildings and movable property of cultural historical value, according to the law.

The costs of funeral services are covered by central government funding and burial fees.  These must be the same for both church members and non-church members. Church taxes are not enough to cover the costs of funeral services or the maintenance of cemeteries.

Under Section 6 of the Funeral Services Act (Hautaustoimilaki), parish unions may charge fees for surrendering a burial site, for services related to burial and for maintaining the grave. The fees and central government funding may not exceed the costs incurred from the provision of the service, i.e., burial does not and cannot generate a profit. 

The grounds for the fees must be the same for everyone who has the right to be buried in a cemetery of the parish union, i.e., all residents of the city regardless of their church membership status. War veterans and their spouses are fully exempted from burial plot redemption fees.

According to the guidelines of the Church Council of Finland, the fee income from funeral services must cover around half of the total costs of funeral services in parish economies. The rest of the costs are covered by central government funding, which is based on the Act on central government funding for the Evangelical Lutheran Church for certain social tasks (Laki valtion rahoituksesta evankelis-luterilaiselle kirkolle eräisiin yhteiskunnallisiin tehtäviin). 

The recent increases made in Espoo, Helsinki and Vantaa have been based on both the recommendations of the Church Council of Finland and the already decided-on reductions in Finnish government funding. The adjustments made by the General Synod to the funding allocation criteria affect all parish economies, but as a result of the changes, funding will decrease the most in large parish unions.

Further information: 

Juha Ollila, Head of Funeral Services, Espoo Parish Union, juha.ollila@evl.fi, +358 50 594 5304.

Risto Hämäläinen, Director of the Parish Union, Espoo Parish Union, risto.hamalainen@evl.fi, +358 9 8050 1 (switchboard).

Cemeteries in Espoo