Epidemiological surveillance of candidates for autologous transfusion was established in France in 1993. The number of candidates increased steadily between 1993 and 1997 and then declined, falling to fewer than 50,000 by the year 2000. The sex ratio has remained stable over time (0.85 men for every woman). The population of candidates for autologous transfusion is aging: the proportion of those under 50 years of age fell from 29% in 1993 to 18% in 2000, while the proportion of those aged 70 and older rose from 22% to 34% over the same period. Prevalence rates decreased between 1993 and 2000, by a factor of 2.5 for HBsAg and by a factor of 5 for HCV. For HIV, a slight downward trend is observed, and for HTLV, the rate has remained stable over time. In 2000, the prevalence rate of HCV (0.23%) was twice that of HBsAg (0.12%), 15 times higher than that of HTLV in metropolitan France (0.015%), and 100 times higher than that of HIV (0.002%). Prevalence is comparable between men and women for HCV, approximately twice as high in men as in women for HBsAg, and three times higher for HIV. Conversely, for HTLV, prevalence is approximately twice as high in women. Prevalence rates for HBsAg and HCV were also calculated by age group: for HBsAg, prevalence rates rise up to the 30–39 age group in women and the 40–49 age group in men; thereafter, they decline with age but remain higher in men than in women. For HCV, while prevalence increases with age in women, in men it peaks in the 30–39 age group, then decreases until the 50–59 age group and stabilizes thereafter. The now extremely low risk of transmitting a viral infection through homologous transfusion of labile blood products and advances in autologous transfusion techniques appear to be the two main factors contributing to the recent decline in the number of candidates for autologous transfusion. The decline in the prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies between 1993 and 2000 is multifactorial, but the significant drop observed for HCV is, in part, a reflection of a decrease in prevalence in the general population over the past decade.