IntroductionHip replacement was declared “operation of the century” in tribute to the functional improvement it provides. Frequency is increasing, but it is difficult to estimate the actual number of procedures performed and the expected progression, because of changes in indications and lengthening life-expectancy, and also, in France, because there is no registry. As data are lacking in France, we conducted an investigation 1) to update the number of hip surgeries in France, and 2) to forecast progression over the coming decades, considering extreme scenarios.HypothesisThe number of hip procedures can be expected to increase considerably over the coming 50 years.Material and methodA study was conducted to analyze national coding data for the number of hip surgeries performed in France. Two scenarios were defined: one taking account of population progression and age structure, the other also extrapolating trends observed over recent years. Current hip surgery activity in France was measured, and progression estimated according to population changes.ResultsIn 2018 in France, 183,139 procedures were coded as principally concerning the hip. There was a clear predominance of reconstruction procedures, with 148,965 primary hip replacements, 124,251 of which were total. There were 19,304 hip replacement revision procedures. There were strong regional differences in revision according to the type of center performing surgery (p < 0.0001). Between 2018 and 2050, primary hip replacement could be expected to increase by 41.9% or 114.3% and hip surgery overall by 42.0% or 98.3%, depending on the scenario.DiscussionThe present results are subject to future technological breakthroughs and medical discoveries, but forecast a major increase in hip surgery requirements. These results extend the present state of medical knowledge.Level of evidenceIV, descriptive epidemiological study.