In 1968, INSERM became responsible for producing and publishing cause-of-death statistics in France, a task previously handled by INSEE. For the years 1978-1997, these statistics can be viewed on the server of the Service d'information sur les causes de décès (SC8). Users can construct tables of deaths or mortality rates by sex, ten-year age group or place of residence (whole of France, region, département, or city) for individual causes or groups of causes. The server also explains how to obtain more specific data.

For work on longer series, consistency problems resulting from changes in the classification system and in death reporting and registration practices must be resolved. Two teams of INED researchers are developing time series of deaths by cause based on a constant medical definition, adopting a range of approaches to address different needs.