The impact of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) on the incidence of pneumococcal meningitis (PM) in children is unknown. To determine this impact, a descriptive multicentre retrospective cohort study was conducted from 2008 to 2013 in northern France. All laboratory-confirmed PM in children aged <18 years in all hospitals of the area with paediatric units were included. Two independent databases were used for exhaustive identification of cases: medical plus laboratory records at each hospital and discharge codes. The corrected incidence of PM was determined by a capture-recapture analysis using these two databases. Sixty-two cases were found over the 6-year period. A decrease of the PM corrected incidence was observed in the global population (P = 0·07), significant only for children aged <2 years, from 11·9/100 000 in 2008 in 1·9/100 000 in 2013 [6·4 fold-decrease, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·4-41, P = 0·01] between years 2008 and 2013. When comparing the pre- and post-PCV13 periods, this decrease was still statistically significant for children aged <2 years [7·32/100 000 (95% CI 4·39-10·25) to 2·78/100 000 (95% CI 0·96-4·60), P = 0·01]. Only three (5%) cases of PM caused by vaccine serotypes could have been prevented. After the introduction of the PCV13 vaccine, a decrease in the incidence of PM cases in children in northern France was observed.