Introduction Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal malignancies and primary prevention strategies are limited. Epidemiological studies focusing on the association between folate intake and pancreatic cancer risk have reported inconsistent findings. Methods A systematic search of the literature was conducted using the PubMed and EMBASE databases. A systematic review and meta-analysis of eligible studies was performed to assess the association between folate intake and risk of pancreatic cancer. Results A total of 16 studies involving 5654 cases and 1,009,374 individuals were included. The result showed a significant association of folate intake with a decreased risk of pancreatic cancer, with a pooled OR of 0.82 (95% CI: 0.69–0.97, P  = 0.019) for the highest category of intake vs. the lowest. The data suggested that high intake of folate may contribute to the prevention of pancreatic cancer. However, the association was observed only in case–control studies (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.65–0.93, P  = 0.006), but not in cohort studies (RR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.66–1.09, P  = 0.244). Dose–response meta-analysis showed that an increment of folate intake (100 μg/day) was marginally associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer, with a pooled OR of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.93–1.00, P  = 0.053). Conclusion High folate intake might be inversely associated with pancreatic cancer risk, which needs to be confirmed.