Purpose To describe temporal trends in the epidemiology, clinical management and outcome of candidemia in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Methods This study was a retrospective analysis of 1,392 episodes of candidemia in 647 adult ICU patients from 22 Brazilian hospitals. The characteristics of candidemia in these ICU patients were compared in two periods (2003–2007, period 1; 2008–2012, period 2), and the predictors of 30-day mortality were assessed. Results The proportion of patients who developed candidemia while in the ICU increased from 44 % in period 1 to 50.9 % in period 2 ( p  = 0.01). Prior exposure to fluconazole before candidemia (22.3 vs. 11.6 %, p  < 0.001) and fungemia due to Candida glabrata (13.1 vs. 7.8 %, p  = 0.03) were more frequent in period 2, as was the proportion of patients receiving an echinocandin as primary therapy (18.0 vs. 5.9 %, p  < 0.001). The 30-day mortality rate decreased from 76.4 % in period 1 to 60.8 % in period 2 ( p  < 0.001). Predictors of 30-day mortality by multivariate analysis were older age, period 1, treatment with corticosteroids and higher APACHE II score, while treatment with an echinocandin were associated with a higher probability of survival. Conclusions We found a clear change in the epidemiology and clinical management of candidemia in ICU patients over the 9-year period of the study. The use of echinocandins as primary therapy for candidemia appears to be associated with better outcomes.