Every death costs British taxpayers £18,020, with the bulk spent on hospital care, new analysis shows.

Research found that public expenditure on healthcare, social care and social security is in the region of £22 billion for those in the last year of life.

More than half is spent on healthcare, with hospital care accounting for the largest share of spending

Data obtained by the Nuffield Trust and the Health Economics Unit, commissioned by end of life charity Marie Curie, found that for every £5 spent on healthcare, £4 was spent in hospital, with £2.80 spent on emergency hospital care.

By comparison, public spending on primary and community healthcare makes up just 11% of health expenditure in the last year of life, with less than 4% (£414m) spent on hospice care.

The figures reveal the UK public purse spends five times the amount supporting people in the final year of life as hospital inpatients than it does supporting them with primary, community health and hospice care.

Nuffield Trust Deputy Director of Research Sarah Scobie said: "High quality care at the end of life is an essential part of ensuring that people can die well, but policymakers are flying blind when it comes to understanding what costs are incurred in supporting those in their final year of life.

"The UK government has pledged to move more care out of hospitals as part of its 10 Year Health Plan for the NHS in England. But with £4 in every £5 of health care spent for those in their last year of life going on hospital care, our findings show the government has a serious challenge ahead to make this a reality for those in need at the end of life."

The research looked at costs incurred for every one of the 652,000 adults who died in the UK 2022. Previous research revealed 53% of people who die visit A&E at least once in their final three months and the latest public spending research reveals an estimated £307m is spent on A&E visits in the last year of life.

Marie Curie says there is a significant lack of access to end of life care in communities, leaving people dying alone, without the care they want at home and too often forced towards emergency services, such as ambulances and A&E, and admitted to hospital for their final moments.

Dr Sam Royston, the charity's executive director of research and policy, said: "The research underlines what we've known for a concerningly long time. Too many people are spending their last months of life in hospital, visiting A&E or forced to call out ambulances rather than receiving well-anticipated, coordinated and holistic care in the community. Most devastatingly, too many people are dying in places where they don't want or need to be.

"There must be a clear long-term ambition for all UK governments to shift health expenditure on people at the end of life from hospital to community settings supported by appropriate targets. For example, a long term target to reduce hospital expenditure by 20% and a corresponding increase in expenditure on community-based health services over a 10-year period would double current expenditure on community services."

Marie Curie is calling for a "transformation fund" to invest in innovative community-driven ways of caring for those at the end of their lives to help reduce hospital expenditure in line with targets and ultimately improve access to care and support for those who are dying.