Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, a major part in inflammatory, infectious and tumor processes, and is pivotal at the early stages of gastric cancer. Relationship between its risk and TNF-α rs361525 polymorphism has been demonstrated, but remains conflicting and controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to more precisely estimate this relationship. PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and CNKI were comprehensively searched to find out relevant articles through October 5, 2017. The strength of the relationship was assessed using pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Totally 20 articles were included involving 4,084 cases and 7,010 controls. No significant relationship between TNF-α rs361525 polymorphism and increased GC risk was found in the whole populations. Subgroup analyses uncovered TNF-α rs361525 polymorphism intensified the risk of GC among Asians under five models, but decreased the risk of GC among Caucasiansin the allelic and dominant models. Subgroup analysis by genotyping methods revealed increased risk for other methods. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests TNF-α rs361525 polymorphism is related to the risk of GC, especially for Asians.