UK Membership of DIGNITAS rises 50% in five years

UK-based membership of the Swiss assisted dying centre Dignitas has grown by 50% in the last five years, new figures show. In 2024, there were 2,231 members of non-profit Dignitas (full name DIGNITAS – To live with dignity, die with dignity) compared to 1,430 in 2019. Membership – a prerequisite to having an assisted death at Dignitas – has seen a sharp rise, with 331 new members in 2024, and 372 the year prior, and has doubled since 2016. Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision – both members of the UK Assisted Dying Coalition – have called on MPs to stop exporting compassion and allow for legal, safe and compassionate assisted deaths in the UK as soon as is safely possible.

Other figures show 37 UK deaths at the Swiss centre in 2024, down slightly from 40 in 2023. 608 UK residents in total had died at the Swiss assisted dying centre by the end of the year, one of three clinics in Switzerland open to UK citizens. Last year the Assisted Dying Coalition produced a report detailing where in the UK residents have come from before having an assisted death abroad.

Dave Sowry accompanied his wife Christy Barry to have an assisted death at Dignitas in September 2022. Christy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had a clear and settled wish to die. Dave said:

‘Going to Dignitas wasn;t an easy option for my wife. Sadly it was the only option. The additional stress and worry caused by the current legal situation was traumatising for her. Christy was terrified right up until the end that she would have her decision thwarted by the UK laws and she felt unable to tell anyone other than a few people really close to her.

‘It’s cruel to impose this additional burden on anyone at the most difficult time of their life. We must change the law.’

Richy Thompson, Director of Public Affairs and Policy at Humanists UK, said:

‘The surge in UK-based Dignitas membership reflects a growing number of people who feel the current law does not meet their needs at the end of life. These are individuals who are suffering and making deeply personal decisions in the absence of a legal, safeguarded option at home. Sadly, with the delay to the latest possible implementation of England and Wales’s bill, more people look set to join them.

‘The law must change. We need a safe, legal, and compassionate assisted dying system in the UK as soon as is safely possible, so no one has to make that journey ever again.’

Graham Winyard, Director of My Death, My Decision, said:

‘Every year, more people are joining Dignitas because our politicians are refusing to act. These aren’t just numbers, they’re real people, many of them terminally ill, who want control over how and when they die. The UK’s current ban on assisted dying is cruel, outdated, and unsustainable. It’s time Parliament listened to the overwhelming public support for change and gave people the right to die with dignity, here at home.’