Objective To systematically review the effectiveness of empowerment education in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods Databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 12, 2012), PubMed, Ovid, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, digital journals of the Chinese Medical Association and Google Scholar were electronically searched for the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on empowerment education in patients with type 2 diabetes from inception to January 2013. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results A total of seven RCTs involving 749 Type 2 diabetic patients were finally included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the control group, the empowerment education group was better in decreasing HbA1c levels, with a significant difference (MD= –0.27, 95%CI –0.51 to –0.03, P=0.03), but no significant difference was found between the two groups in improving body mass index (BMI) (MD= 0.25, 95%CI –1.07 to 1.57, P=0.71). Conclusion The program of empowerment education could improve HbA1c levels of diabetic patients, patients’ knowledge and illness attitudes on diabetes mellitus, but its influence on patients’ BMI, LDL and self-efficacy is still unclear.