Objective - Smoking is a risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases. In France, one-quarter of the population smokes daily, which is one of the highest rates observed in Western Europe. The objectives of this study were to provide an estimate for the year 2015 of: 1) the number of hospitalizations for cardiovascular diseases attributable to smoking in France; 2) the number of hospital stays that could have been avoided if there were 10% fewer active smokers in the population or if the proportion of smokers were only 20%. Method - Age- and sex-specific attributable fractions were calculated by combining the relative risks of smoking-related cardiovascular diseases identified in the literature with estimates of smoking prevalence in France from the 2014 Santé publique France Barometer. These fractions were then applied to hospitalizations in 2015 where the primary diagnosis of the stay was one of these cardiovascular diseases. Results - In 2015, it was estimated that in France more than 250,000 hospital stays (with a 95% uncertainty interval between 234,000 and 270,000) for a cardiovascular disease were attributable to smoking. This number represents 21% of all hospital stays for cardiovascular disease recorded that same year. Ischemic heart disease was the condition most frequently associated with these smoking-attributable hospital stays (39%). If the number of current smokers were 10% lower or if the proportion of smokers were 20% of the population, 6,000 and 26,000 hospital stays for cardiovascular disease, respectively, could be prevented annually. Conclusions - A significant number of hospital stays for cardiovascular disease are linked to smoking: a 10% reduction in the number of smokers would prevent 6,000 of these stays each year, and if only 20% of the French population smoked, 26,000 stays would have been prevented.