Several reports indicate that use of hypnotics is significantly higher in France relative to other European countries, but few reports exist concerning the cost of this high consumption of psychotropic medications. The purpose of the present study was to estimate the direct costs that may be attributed to insomnia in France. Data were derived from previously published surveys in this field. It includes the cost of sleep medications and of substances used to promote sleep, outpatient visits to physicians or to other health professionals and sleep recordings and treatment by sleep specialists. The final estimate of the total direct cost of insomnia in France in 1995 was FF 10,232,992,500 ($2,067,271,100). Public authorities have to understand that an increase in the direct costs of insomnia may be balanced by the reduction of the daytime consequences of insomnia and then by the reduction of the indirect costs of insomnia.