Nearly 50,000 people died from falls in 2003 in the European Union (25 countries). Disparities were observed between countries (with the risk being up to seven times higher), by age (with an exponential increase in risk), and by gender (with men facing a 1.7 times higher risk). The limitations on the comparability of these data (available for download on the Eurostat website) are outlined, and recommendations for improving them are proposed.