Objective To examine the length of hospital stay and expenses associated with hysterectomy in China and to compare the results with those from developed counties, so as to provide comparative information about hysterectomy in China. Methods Hospital discharge data on hysterectomies performed in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2002 to 2006 were retrieved. The cases were classified into 3 groups, namely abdominal, laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomy. The length of hospital stay and expenses associated with hysterectomy were analyzed retrospectively. Results Records of 5975 women who underwent hysterectomies were analyzed, including 3295 cases (65.7%) of abdominal hysterectomy, 1543 (25.8%) cases of laparoscopic hysterectomy (25.8%) and 507 (8.5%) cases of vaginal hysterectomy. The median (mean) postoperative length of stay were 6 (6.4) days, 4 (4.8) days and 5 (5.6) days in the abdominal, laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomy groups, respectively. These were approximately 2 days longer than those in developed countries. The median total expenses were 6109.0, 7296.3 and 5265.2 RMB in the abdominal, laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomy groups, respectively. After adjustment for the differences in Gross National Income (GNI) per capita between China and developed countries, the expenses associated with hysterectomy in China were 8.7 and 1.8-4.9 times higher than those in UK and USA, respectively. Conclusion Compared with abdominal and vaginal hysterectomies, laparoscopic hysterectomy is associated with a shorter postoperative length of stay, but with higher hospital cost. Compared with developed countries, hysterectomy is actually more expensive and associated with a longer hospital stay in China.