Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is a valuable simplified tool in prediction of nutrition-related complications. The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the association of GNRI with survival outcomes in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed and Embase databases from their inception to September 30, 2020. Observational studies that investigated the association of GNRI with survival outcomes in patients with ESCC were selected. The pooled adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the lowest vs. the highest GNRI level was used to summarize the association. Eight retrospective studies involving 1460 ESCC patients were identified and included. For the lowest vs. the highest GNRI category, the pooled HR was 1.92 (95% CI 1.59-2.31) for overall survival and 1.77 (95% CI 1.19-2.62) for cancer-specific survival, respectively. Lower GNRI is significantly associated with reduced overall survival and cancer-specific survival among ESCC patients. Determination of nutritional status using GNRI has potential to improve survival stratification in patients with ESCC.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01635581.2022.2028865 .