This paper shows the analysis of the literature sources on the epidemiology of chronic venous disease, published in world literature since the late 50s of the last century. The differences of the prevalence of varicose veins among the adult population are very high from 2—56% in men and from 1—60% in women. In Africa the frequency of varices comprises 5—6%, in New Guinea, on some Pacific islands the prevalence of varicose veins also lower, in Arab countries the prevalence reaches 11.5%, in Europe reaches tens of percent of the adult population. Greater prevalence of varicose veins is discovered among European, USA and Southern America women. Various studies showed that the number of men with varicose veins is the same as women. In Africa, in the Pacific region, the prevalence of varicose veins is higher in men than in women. Evidence on the prevalence of post-thrombotic syndrome and functional venous insufficiency (phlebopathy) are absent due to the fact that these variations have not been studied in epidemiological research. Шn Russia, data on the prevalence of chronic venous disease are not available. Two studies were conducted, but the evidence is difficult to extrapolate on the general population because the sample was not obtained randomly. An analogous lack was also peculiar for most of the Western works, which are held at artificially selected subpopulations, i.e. workers of any industry, persons seeking medical care for any of the reasons, persons of a certain sex or specific age groups. Accurate evidence can be obtained only in population studies. To date, seven general population surveys have been conducted, which can be called epidemiological, but the design and the data from these studies also raise questions. It can be stated that despite the apparent exploration of the problem, the heterogeneity of the currently known facts, many of which are obtained using legacy systems assessment of the presence of disease, does not allow for accurate estimates of the epidemiology of chronic venous disease today.