How much does a funeral cost in Ghana? Prices, fees and who pays

What does a funeral in Ghana cost in total?

The most detailed published estimate is a 2018 survey that put a bereaved family's costs at about GH₵15,500 to over GH₵33,500 per death.

The study, by researchers at KAAF University College and published in the International Journal of Business and Social Research in 2020, interviewed 21 family heads and funeral committee secretaries and surveyed 135 funeral attendees in Greater Accra, Central and Ashanti regions in May 2018. Its family total covers the mortuary, coffin, announcements, chairs and canopies, music, drinks, food, the tomb, lying in repose and transport on the day.

Attendees pay too. The same study found people went to 3 to 6 funerals a year, spending 1 to 3 working days on each, and spent between GH₵750 and GH₵5,250 a year on transport, funeral cloth and spending at the funeral ground.

No more recent national total was found in official statistics or academic research for this page, so the 2018 figures are given with their date. For scale, Ghana's national daily minimum wage was set at GH₵21.77 from 1 January 2026.

What do the main items cost?

Published prices exist for the mortuary, coffin, food, canopies and graves, but each comes from a different year and source, so every figure below carries its date.

• At Madina Public Cemetery in November 2023 the caretaker quoted GH₵450 for the plot, GH₵300 for digging a standard grave, GH₵700 if the grave is plastered and painted, and up to GH₵2,000 for a deeper grave.
• At Osu Cemetery in November 2023 a worker said a grave with digging and tomb cost GH₵4,900, up from GH₵830 in 2018.
• At Awudome Cemetery in November 2023 an attendant quoted GH₵1,100 for a grave without a tombstone and GH₵2,600 with a well-built tomb.
• A private cemetery in East Legon charged GH₵47,000 in November 2023 for a plot with a 20-year lease, digging and a tombstone.
• In the 2018 survey most families spent GH₵500 to GH₵1,500 on the lying in repose, and 28.6% spent GH₵1,500 or more.
• The same survey found drinks for guests cost families from under GH₵2,000 to GH₵4,000 or more, and that 42.9% spent less than GH₵2,000 on the tomb and 42.9% spent GH₵2,000 to GH₵3,000.

How long does a body stay in the mortuary?

Often months: in the 2018 survey, 42.9% of families kept the body in the mortuary for up to three months, 42.9% for three to six months and 14.2% for six months or more.

Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi opened a 350-body mortuary in 2015, taking its capacity to 750, and said it received at least 60 bodies a day. In February 2025 Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra suspended intake of new bodies for a refurbishment of its morgue's cooling and storage that was expected to take about six weeks.

Mortuaries are regulated by the Mortuaries and Funeral Facilities Agency under the Health Institutions and Facilities Act 2011 (Act 829). The agency licenses facilities and practitioners and investigates complaints. In September 2023 it said at least 232 mortuaries in Ghana were operating without the licence the law requires.

What paperwork does a burial need?

A death must be registered and a burial permit issued before burial; under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 2020 the permit is free.

The Act requires a health facility to notify the District Registrar within seven days of a death, and the District Registrar to register the death within ten days (sections 23 and 27). The nearest relative present at the death is one of the people who must give the registrar the details (section 28). A cemetery manager must not allow a burial without a burial permit, and whoever conducts the burial must inspect the death certificate and permit first (sections 32 and 34).

In July 2025 the Registrar of Births and Deaths said it was illegal to bury without a permit. He said the registry had recorded 27,638 deaths by June against 143,484 projected for 2025, and put much of the gap down to unregulated burial grounds that do not ask for documents.

Who pays for a funeral in Ghana?

The bereaved family pays first; the 2018 survey found some costs are later recovered through donations from mourners, but the family has to fund the funeral before they arrive.

Mourners carry their own costs, including the cloth chosen for the funeral. Cloth merchants quoted a minimum of GH₵75 for three yards in the 2018 survey, and most attendees surveyed said they were expected to buy it.

Funeral policies are a common form of term insurance in Ghana, according to the National Insurance Commission, which regulates insurers under the Insurance Act 2021 (Act 1061). How they work, and what to check, is covered in the guide to life insurance in Ghana.

What should a family abroad check?

These checks come from the rules and costs above. Prices vary by town, hospital and cemetery, so written quotes matter more than any average.

• Ask the mortuary for its daily and embalming fees in writing.
• Ask whether the mortuary holds an agency licence.
• Confirm the death has been registered with the District Registrar.
• Collect the burial permit, which is free.
• Get a written cemetery quote for plot, digging and tomb.
• Agree a budget and who pays for which item.
• Agree who in Ghana will sign for and collect the body.
• Keep receipts for every payment.
• Agree how donations will be recorded and shared.
• Check any funeral policy and what a claim needs.

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