The early growth response (EGR) family has a highly conserved DNA-binding domain and encodes zinc finger proteins, which show suppressive effects on tumour growth. However, the expression and significance of EGR3 in gastric cancer are still unknown. In this study, real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and western blot assays were performed to detect the expression of EGR3 in gastric cancer tissues and matched non-tumour tissues and to further analyse the EGR3 expression associated with clinical pathological factors, including prognosis. Our results showed that EGR3 expression was significantly lower in gastric cancer tissues compared with matched non-tumour tissues and that patients with lower EGR3 expression had a poorer prognosis compared with patients with higher EGR3 expression. Our results suggest that decreased EGR3 expression might play a critical role in the differentiation, proliferation, metastasis and progression of gastric cancer cells and may also be a potential diagnostic marker for gastric cancer.