Previous studies have investigated the prognostic value of the advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers; however, the results are controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the prognostic and clinicopathological role of ALI in patients with GI cancers. A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to evaluate the prognostic and clinicopathological value of ALI in GI cancers. Nine studies comprising 3,750 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that a low ALI was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS, hazard ratio [HR] = 1.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.53-2.47, P < 0.001, I2 = 63.9%) and disease-free survival/relapse-free survival (DFS/RFS, HR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.28-1.73, P < 0.001, I2 = 0%) in patients with GI cancers. In addition, decreased ALI correlated with the depth of tumor invasion and presence of distant metastasis and tended to be associated with male sex, high carcinoembryonic antigen levels, lymph node metastasis, and right-sided colon cancer. Low ALI was associated with adverse OS and DFS/RFS in patients with GI cancer. In addition, decreased ALI also correlated with clinicopathological factors, indicating higher stage of the malignancy.