OBJECTIVES: To establish a comparative description on the perception of skin sensitivity in 8 European countries representing a total of 285 million inhabitants. METHODS: In each of the 8 following European countries (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Greece) a sample of the population, representative of the population over the age of 15, was established. Hence, 4506 individuals were interviewed by phone and selected according to the quotas method. RESULTS: When asked "Do you have sensitive skin?", 37.6% of our sample replied 'sensitive' or 'very sensitive'. The non-reply rate was below 1.5%. More women said they had sensitive skin than men, 49.4% versus 37% (p<0.05). According to interviewed individuals, a dermatological disease was sometimes concomitant with their skin sensitivity: 31.2% of subjects with very sensitive skin declared suffering from a dermatological pathology, 17.6% with sensitive skin, 8.7% with minor skin sensitivity and 3.7% with no skin sensitivity. A history of atopic dermatitis or eczema during childhood was more frequently observed in subjects with sensitive or very sensitive skins (18.5% versus 8.6%). Interviewed individuals who declared having dry or oily skin had significantly and more frequently sensitive or very sensitive skin compared to those with normal skin. Fifty-two percent of individuals with dry skin; 38.4% with oily skin and only 25% with normal skin. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first study on sensitive skin carried among the European population. In the eight concerned countries, 100,000,000 of subjects declared having 'sensitive' or 'very sensitive' skin and probably not all have spontaneously consulted their dermatologist for this type of complaint. Dermatologists should therefore systematically ask the question to their patient. The non-reply rate was very low, which implies that the term 'sensitive skin' makes sense for the great majority of individuals.