Objective To evaluate correlation between –765G>C polymorphism of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene and susceptibility to colorectal cancer. Methods The PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM, VIP, and Wanfang databases were searched from inception to May 2016 to collect case-control studies about the –765G>C polymorphism of COX-2 gene and the susceptibility to colorectal cancer. Two reviewers independently screened the literatures and extracted data of included studies. The meta-analysis was performed using Stata 12.0 software. Results A total of 13 studies involving 4 998 cases and 7 750 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The overall meta-analysis showed that all the genotypes of the –765G>C polymorphism of COX-2 gene were not associated with the susceptibility to colorectal cancer 〔GGvs. GC: OR=0.98, 95% CI (0.89, 1.07), P=0.590; GC vs. CC: OR=0.85, 95% CI (0.65, 1.11), P=0.236; GG vs. CC: OR=0.86, 95% CI (0.66, 1.12), P=0.275; GG+GC vs. CC:OR=0.87, 95% CI (0.67, 1.13), P=0.288; GG vs. GC+CC:OR=0.97, 95% CI (0.89, 1.05), P=0.425〕. The stratification analysis by ethnicity showed that, the GG vs. GC and GG vs. GC+CC modes of COX-2 gene –765G>C polymorphism might be associated with the susceptibility to colorectal cancer in Asians 〔GGvs. GC: OR=0.70, 95%CI (0.58, 0.86), P=0.001; GG vs. GC+CC: OR=0.71, 95% CI (0.58, 0.87), P=0.001〕, but the other modes were not associated with it 〔GC vs. CC: OR=1.74, 95% CI (0.61, 5.00), P=0.301; GG vs. CC: OR=1.18, 95% CI (0.40, 3.45), P=0.762; GG+GC vs. CC: OR=1.50, 95% CI (0.53, 4.23), P=0.440〕. The genotypes of the –765G>C polymorphism of COX-2 gene were not associated with the susceptibility to colorectal cancer in Caucasians 〔GGvs. GC: OR=1.05, 95% CI (0.95, 1.16), P=0.321; GC vs. CC: OR=0.80, 95% CI (0.61, 1.01), P=0.129; GG vs. CC: OR=0.85, 95% CI (0.64, 1.11), P=0.228; GG+GC vs. CC: OR=0.83, 95% CI (0.64, 1.09), P=0.198; GG vs. GC+CC: OR=1.03, 95% CI (0.94, 1.13), P=0.526〕. Conclusion Current evidence shows that –765G>C polymorphism of COX-2 gene might be a genetic risk factor for colorectal cancer in Asians, but not in Caucasians.