Age of the deceased, place of death, panel of funeral services, or even price and policy of concession rates in cemeteries depending on the city… Midi libre takes stock on this All Saints' Day.
8,029 people died in 2022 in Gard, compared to 7,509 people in 2023.
In the department, mortality has seen a slight downward trend over one year. And the same goes for the average age of the deceased, which reaches 80.4 years in 2023 compared to 80.9 years in 2022, almost a year more than the national average of 79.6 years.
Where do these people die?
According to information collected by Senior Media, the majority of deaths occur in healthcare establishments and not at home.
“In Gard, 45.3% of deaths are in fact recorded in public hospitals or private clinics, compared to 35.9% at home. Even more secondarily, only 13.9% of these deaths occurring in 2023 had place in retirement home/Ehpad”details Charles Simpson, general manager of Meilleur-pompes-funèbres.com.
The progress of cremation
If Gard currently has no less than three crematoriums evenly distributed across its territory (in Nîmes, Beaucaire and Alès), the cremation rate there is constantly increasing. In 2020, the number of cremations officially exceeded that of burials, reaching a rate of 50.4% this year. Note that in view of the figures for 2022, the Nîmes crematorium remains the most active, ahead of those of Beaucaire then Alès, with 2,291 cremations carried out this year alone.
Gard currently has 87 funeral homes and 47 funeral homes, or one funeral home for 159.8 deceased. On this particular point, the Gard offering remains higher than the national average.
Finally, regarding the average cost of funerals in the department, it is around €3,300 on average. €3,297 for a cremation, €3,321 for a burial with all procedures included, for an entry-level pine coffin and also assuming that the family already has a concession.
The question of concessions
In Gard as elsewhere, the price of concessions for columbariums1 and burials in tombs vary greatly from one municipality to another. Prices also differ depending on the duration allocated to the concession which depends on the free choice of each municipality. The heterogeneity of prices thus makes the comparison complex. However, on average, a funeral concession over 50 years reaches €800. Regarding columbariums, the price for an identical duration is around €745.
Finally, regarding the prices of cemeteries, columbariums and concessions of two square meters, Nîmes is no longer the most expensive city in Gard in which to be buried. A concession in the city of Antonins for a period of 30 years now costs €529. While in Alès, the price of a concession is currently around €630. For a columbarium, on the other hand, the Cévennes capital remains attractive with its price, again €630. Whereas in the city of Antonins, this same columbarium costs almost €1,000.
