OBJECTIVES: The targets of this study was to estimate the prevalence of low vision and blindness, their associated disabilities, handicaps and socio-economic consequences. METHODS: A national survey was conducted on a random, stratified sample of 356,208 French citizens living in the community. From this sample, 21,760 subjects were further selected at random and 16,945 persons were interviewed. Also, 4,091 randomly selected domestic carers were interviewed. Handicap data were gathered by means of an 18-item questionnaire. Collected data included social demography, home description, household income, handicaps, disabilities, social allowances and activities of daily living. Four groups were created, based upon subject interviews (blind, low vision (LV), other visual defects (OVD) and no visual problems (NVP)). These were compared after adjustment on age, co-morbidity and household size. RESULTS: The prevalence of blindness was 0.10% and of low vision 1.94%. Persons with no visual problems had less co-morbidity (0.81) than those with LV (1.39), or blindness (1.33). Blind subjects needed assistance with daily activities more often (Odds-Ratio: 2.6 to 56.6) than NVP subjects and needed house modifications. Many blind (46.8%) and LV subjects (29.0%) were registered for social allowances. Blind subjects had fewer paid activities (4.5%) than subjects did with no visual problems (20.7%). Social allowances increased considerably, by €277, between LV and blind persons. Monthly household incomes were lower for LV (€1255) and blind subjects (€1587) than for NVP subjects (€1851). CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the impact of blindness and low vision on daily living.