Objective To investigate infertile inpatients hospitalized in Pingjin Hospital in Tianjin from 2008 to 2010, so as to provide baseline data for further research. Methods According to diagnosis criteria of WHO, we collected demographical characteristics, disease cause and cost constitution of infertility inpatients hospitalized in Pingjin Hospital in Tianjin from 2008 to 2010. The data of each patient were input into ACCESS database and SPSS 13.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results a) From 2008 to 2010, there were 1 452 infertile patients from 33 different areas of mainland China, 79.7% of which was from the north of China. b) The mean age was 31.2±4.3 years old. The percentage of patients aged 30 to 34 years accounted for the most (40.3%). Mental laborers (23.3%) were more than physical laborers (7.2%). 36.7% of patients received education from universities and 83.1% of patients had family income ranging from 20,000 yuan to 190,000 yuan. c) The mean age of the first sexual activity was 21.4±2.9 years old. 53.7% of patients had only one sexual partner and most couples had sexual activities twice every week. The mean age of husbands was 32.9±5.5 years old with the highest percentage of 30 to 35 years old (39.2%). The percent of intellectual work of husband was the highest (35.9%). 64.9% of patients had normal semen analysis results and 23.0% never took related examination. d) 29.9% of patients was primary infertility and 70.1% was secondary infertility, of which 57.6% had either induced or medical abortion. The mean duration of infertility was 5.2±3.5 years (range 1 to 21 year). e) 76.3% of infertile patients had pelvic adhesion and 88.6% suffered from tubal disease. Among the tubal infertile patients, 23.6% had uterine disease, 5.2% had ovarian disease, 5.0% had endometriosis, 6.7% had multiple problems, and 4.8% had unexplained infertility. In patients with tubal infertility, the incidence of distal fimbria atresia (45.8%) was higher than that of proximal block (32.9%). 24.7% of patients with fimbria atresia had hydrosalpinx and among of them, 21.1% had no hydrosalpinx. 15.2% had congenital tubal defects. f) The average hospital stay was 10.5 days and the cost was 14 253.3 yuan per person. The percentage of material cost was 29.1% and that of drugs was 18.2%. Conclusion a) The total number of infertile inpatients was 1 452 in gynecology department of Pingjin Hospital of Tianjin from 2008 to 2010. 79.7% of patient was from North China. Most of them were 30 to 34 years old and 44.3% had no job. The percentage of patients had university education and that of low-middle family income was the highest. Sexual activity was relatively traditional. Most husbands were 30 to 35 years old and intellectual workers, and 23.0% of them had never taken an examination of semen analysis. More patients were secondary infertile, and the duration of infertility was 1 to 21 years. b) 76.3% of patients had pelvic adhesion and 88.6% had tubal disease. The incidence of distal tubal fimbria atresia was higher than proximal tubal occlusion. c) The average hospital stay was 10.5 days and the cost was 14 253.3 yuan per person which was further lower than each cycle cost of assisted reproductive technology. The overall costs included materials and drugs (47.3%), which were mainly at patients’ own expense.