Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) represents 4–10% of bone and joint infections. In Western countries, its incidence seems to increase, simultaneously with an increasing number of comorbidities among an ageing population. This study aimed to assess the evolution of VO epidemiology in France over the 2010–2019 decade. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted using the French hospital discharge data collected through the French diagnosis-related groups ‘Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d'Information’. VOs were detected with a previously validated case definition using International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD-10) codes, implemented with the French current procedural terminology codes. The study population included all patients hospitalised in France during the 2010–2019 decade, aged 15 years old and more. Patient and hospital stay characteristics and their evolutions were described. During the study period, 42 105 patients were hospitalised for VO in France involving 60 878 hospital stays. The mean VO incidence was 7.8/100 000 over the study period, increasing from 6.1/100 000 in 2010 to 11.3/100 000 in 2019. The mean age was 64.8 years old and the sex ratio was 1.56. There were 31 341 (74.4%) patients with at least one comorbidity and 3059 (7.3%) deceased during their hospital stay. Even if rare, device-associated VOs (4450 hospital stays, 7.3%) highly increased over the period. The reliability of the method, based upon an exhaustive database and a validated case definition, provided an effective tool to compare data over time in real-life conditions to regularly update the epidemiology of VO.