Abstract: Background In metropolitan France (63 million inhabitants), around 25,000 people die each year as a result of unintentional injuries. Deaths from home and leisure injuries (HLI) are more frequent than from road traffic injuries (RTI), followed by occupational injuries (OI). The objective of this study was to measure and describe the epidemiological characteristics of deaths due to unintentional injuries in metropolitan France from 2000 to 2012. Methods: HLI data come from death certificates, with an exhaustive collection. Causes of death are coded using the external causes of injury codes of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. The results are expressed in numbers, crude death rates, and age-adjusted death rates. RTI data come from police records[...]. The estimation of the number of fatal OI was established from the data of the social insurance compensation funds for workers. Results: In 2012, 21,470 deaths due to HLI occurred in France. Almost half of these deaths were due to falls, particularly frequent among the elderly. Between 2000 and 2012, a decrease of 2.2% (p < 0,001) of the annual mortality rate was registered. In 2011, RTI resulted in 3,793 deaths. Between 2001 and 2010, a very important reduction in road fatalities was noticed: - 52%, mostly the consequence of the large implementation of automated speed controls during that decade. As regards OI, the annual number of deaths is estimated at 1,557 (95% CI: 1,478-1,640) for the period 2002-2004. Conclusions: Despite the decrease between 2000 and 2012, injuries remain a significant cause of death in France. Most of these deaths could be avoided with adapted prevention, regulation and policy measures.