Cremation has reached a record level in Jersey, with 84% of all deaths registered in 2025 resulting in cremations – the highest proportion ever recorded in the island.

The latest figures, published in the Superintendent Registrar’s Annual Statement for 2025, show a shift over the past eight years.

In 2018, cremations accounted for 75% of deaths. That figure has climbed steadily, reaching 81% in 2024 before surging to 84% this year.

By contrast, burials have fallen to just 16% of all deaths – down from 25% in 2018.

In total, 866 deaths were registered in 2025. Of those, 726 resulted in cremation, compared with 140 burials.

It comes as politicians prepare to debate sweeping reforms to what the Health Minister has described as an “extremely outdated” cremation law that is more than 60 years behind the UK.

Deputy Tom Binet has lodged a proposition to overhaul the Cremation (Jersey) Regulations 1961, legislation he said has “not been updated for a considerable period” and has “caused unnecessary distress and costs for some bereaved families”.

At the heart of the controversy is a rule making it unlawful to cremate someone who has ever left written instructions against cremation – even if they later told loved ones they had changed their mind.

The restriction was scrapped in the UK in 1965 but Jersey never followed suit.

“There appears to be no sound policy reason why this prohibition has remained in Jersey for nearly 60 years after its repeal in the UK, particularly given the evolution of modern burial practices,” said Deputy Binet.

He warned that “increasingly, cases are emerging in which a will, sometimes decades old, specifies burial, while relatives request cremation based on the deceased’s more recent informal or spoken wishes”.

The result, he said, has had a “significant impact”, causing distress and legal costs for families while forcing the government into the role of arbitrating private decisions.

Medical practitioners, meanwhile, face an “unacceptable risk of prosecution” if they authorise cremation without knowledge of burial instructions in a will.

If approved, the reforms would remove the prohibition and place responsibility for the final decision with executors or close relatives – ensuring, Deputy Binet said, that “the final decision would be left in the hands of the executor or family members rather than the government”.

The changes would come into force within seven days of approval.