In St. Petersburg, the turnover of the funeral business has grown sharply

The volume of funeral services provided in St. Petersburg at the end of 2020 increased by 12%. According to Petrostat, last year the volume of the St. Petersburg funeral services market amounted to 6.72 billion rubles (20% of all household services). A year earlier, it was 6 billion rubles, and in 2018 - 5.75 billion rubles (14.6% of all household services).

Growing industry

According to Delovoy Peterburg, this segment is one of the few that managed to grow in 2020. In general, the volume of paid services for 2020 decreased in the city by 83 billion rubles. The revenue of companies that operate in the Northern capital and are members of the Association of Funeral Industry Enterprises of St. Petersburg and the North-West Region, according to Kontur.Focus, increased by 10-30%.

The executive DIRECTOR of the Union of Funeral Organizations and Crematoria, Elena Andreeva, explains the increase in the profits of funeral agencies with an increase in mortality due to covid-19 . “We have direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic. There are statistics of an increase in mortality, and this may be the reason for the increase in the profits of ritual agencies, ”notes Elena Andreeva. At the same time, according to her, when severe CORONAVIRUS restrictions were in effect, virtually all funeral services were reduced to zero. There were no farewells or funerals. Also for a long time there was a regime of self-isolation for people over 65 years old.

As RBC Petersburg previously reported, at the end of 2020, the death rate of the working-age population increased in the city by 16%. At the same time, the overall mortality rate, according to preliminary data, increased by 22.7-22.9%. As Dmitry Lisovets, chairman of the Smolny HEALTH Committee, said at a meeting of the city government, the increase in mortality is associated with the coronavirus pandemic, but COVID-19 has not become the main cause of death - its structure has not changed. The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease; second place is occupied by malignant tumors, coronavirus is only in third place.

Mortality and the "third wave"

This year, due to the third wave of coronavirus, the situation has worsened. According to Petrostat, in January-April 2021, 27,027 people died in St. Petersburg, which is 30% more than in the same period in 2020 (the department does not have more up-to-date statistics). In July, anti-records for mortality were updated several times, the next one was set on July 10, when 752 people died from the consequences of COVID-19 across the country. According to the operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus infection, the most deaths were recorded in Moscow (108) and St. Petersburg (102).