OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the burden of hospitalizations for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) from 2008 to 2013 in France. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed using the French national hospital database (PMSI). Hospital stays for mRCC between 2008 and 2013 were identified by combining the International Classification of Diseases-10^threvision (ICD-10) codes for renal cell carcinoma (C64) and codes for metastasis (C77 or C78 or C79). Among hospital stays, incident cases were selected and followed for at least 1 year. Descriptive analyses were performed with a focus on hospital stays and patient characteristics. RESULTS: Overall, 26 124 adult patients (median age at diagnosis 71 years [18-102] years); 67.8 % male) were hospitalized for mRCC, corresponding to 123 385 hospital stays mainly in public settings (80.1%). Among those patients, 13 517 (51.7 %) had lung metastasis, 10 149 (38.8%) had bone and bone marrow metastasis, 7 553 (28.9%) had liver metastasis and 3 538 (13.5%) had brain metastasis. The number of new cases per year was stable while the number of hospitalizations increased 37.4% from 2008 to 2013. Death in a hospital setting was reported for 4 443 (17%) patients. During the study period, there were 36 205 (29.3%) hospital stays for chemotherapy and immunotherapy, 9 400 (7.6%) hospital stays for radiotherapy and 5 956 (4.8%) hospital stays for palliative care. The mean length of stay at diagnosis was 10.1 (SD: 13.9) vs. 4.4 (SD: 9.3) days for subsequent stays.  CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first study to provide an overview of the burden of mRCC in French hospitals between 2008 and 2013 and constitutes the preliminary step in assessing the economic burden of hospitalizations for mRCC.