<p>We conducted this study to determine whether the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) expression has an effect on the occurrence, development, and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC).We conducted a systematic search in three databases (PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) to identify clinical articles that examined RAGE expression in GC. The association between RAGE and clinical characteristics associated with GC was estimated using odds ratios (ORs) and associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The registration ID of this current study on PROSPERO is CRD42024547708.We included a total of 2834 patients from nine studies in the current study. After pooling up all the data, we found that RAGE expression was higher in GC than in normal tissues (OR = 6.21, <i>I</i>² = 0%, 95% CI 3.60 to 10.71, <i>P</i> &lt; 0.01). RAGE expression was associated with higher lymph node metastasis rate (OR = 2.65, <i>I</i>² = 0%, 95% CI 1.29 to 3.28, <i>P</i> &lt; 0.01) and worse prognosis (HR = 2.03, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 0%, 95% CI 1.48 to 2.80, <i>P</i> &lt; 0.01). RAGE expression was increased in GC and was associated with the risk of lymph node metastasis and worse prognosis. These results suggested that RAGE might serve as a potential biomarker for GC, which might help us to further explain the pathogenesis of GC and find new therapeutic directions.</p>