The epidemiology of ankle fractures is changing. Increasing longevity has resulted in the highest agespecific incidence of ankle fractures being in women between 75 and 84 years of age. The introduction of the A0 classification has facilitated analysis of the commonest fracture types. This survey of 1,500 ankle fractures, seen in a 3-year period in the Edinburgh Orthopaedic Trauma Unit, shows that the commonest ankle fractures are the B1.l and Al.2 lateral rnalleolar fractures. Isolated malleolar fractures accounted for two thirds of the series, with bimalleolar fractures occurring in one fourth of the patients and trimalleolar fractures in the remaining 7%. Open fractures occurred in 2%.