Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is a potential prognostic marker in colorectal cancer (CRC). Nevertheless, the clinicopathological and prognostic roles of PLK1 in CRC are still undefined. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic relevance of PLK1 expression in CRC patients. Studies published between 2003 and 2016 were selected for the meta-analysis based on an electronic literature search (PubMed, EMBASE and Chinese databases). Studies that investigated the clinicopathological and prognostic impacts of PLK1 expression in CRC patients were included for this analysis. Eleven studies that enrolled 1147 CRC patients were included in our meta-analysis. The effect of PLK1 level on overall survival (OS) was reported in five studies, which included 702 patients. Ten studies investigated the clinicopathological role of PLK1 expression in CRC patients. Consequently, PLK1 overexpression was associated with poorer OS in CRC patients. Furthermore, the results revealed that higher PLK1 levels were also observed in CRC tissues compared with that of normal colorectal tissues. In addition, this meta-analysis also revealed positive correlations between PLK1 upregulation and lymph node metastasis or invasion. PLK1 overexpression was significantly correlated with advanced TNM stages and higher Dukes stages. This meta-analysis strongly supports the hypothesis that PLK1 might serve as an important factor in evaluating the biological behavior and prognosis of CRC. •Eleven studies enrolling 1147 CRC patients were included for our meta-analysis.•PLK1 overexpression was associated with poorer OS in CRC patients.•The results revealed that higher PLK1 level was also observed in CRC tissues compared with normal colorectal tissues.•This meta-analyses also revealed the positive correlations between PLK1 up-regulation and lymph node metastasis or invasion.•The PLK1 overexpression was significantly correlated with advanced TNM stages and higher Dukes stages.