This article provides a summary of the most recent descriptive epidemiological data on asthma in France. The latest national surveys show a cumulative prevalence of asthma of over 10% among children aged ten and older and a prevalence of current asthma of 6% to 7% among adults. In 2006, there were 1,038 deaths from asthma (64 among those under 45 years of age). Following the peak observed in the 1980s, asthma-related mortality has declined. This decline is also observed among children and young adults. According to PMSI data, in 2007 there were 54,130 hospital stays for asthma (asthma as the primary diagnosis), more than half of which were among those under 15 years of age. Between 1998 and 2007, the age-standardized annual hospitalization rate for asthma decreased. However, no decrease is observed among children, and among adults, the rate appears to have remained stable since 2004. The increase in the hospitalization rate for acute respiratory failure (ARF) associated with asthma (ARF as the primary diagnosis and asthma as an associated diagnosis) cannot offset the decrease observed among adults in the hospitalization rate for asthma. Data on emergency department visits document significant seasonal variations in asthma exacerbations. (R.A.)