Seven vertical profiles of methyl bromide measured between 1987 and 1995 in the tropical, mid-latitude and Arctic stratosphere are reported. Three of these profiles are previously unpublished, and four are previously published and are here reevaluated and brought on to the same calibration scale as the other ones. The profiles were derived by the analysis of air samples collected by the MPAE balloon-borne cryogenic sampler at various latitudes and at heights from around 6 km to around 30 km. Methyl bromide was not detected above the first 7 km of the tropical stratosphere, while at higher latitudes it sometimes persisted to altitudes greater than 13 km above the tropopause. Concurrent measurements of the man-made Halons 1211 (CBrClF2) and 1301 (CBrF3) and the natural compound CH2Br2 indicate that methyl bromide accounts for 55--70% of the bromine transported into the stratosphere from these four species. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union