A method of temporal prediction using motion estimation is implemented in a sequence of digital images, in the context of coding in a bitstream comprising at least first and second layers linked to each other in a chosen hierarchical relationship of scalability. Provision is made for constructing at least one set of reference pixels for the temporal prediction on the basis of information from a prediction image of the second layer and complementary information from an image of the first layer corresponding temporally to the prediction image. For each block of the current group of the image of the current second layer, a search is made for at least one block of the reference set of pixels so constructed that is suitable for the temporal prediction; and at least one corresponding motion vector is determined.