Objective To investigate the association between serum γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and metabolic syndrome(MS) in elderly people. Methods A total of 1444 elderly individuals who received routine physical examination were included. The serum GGT, body mass index(BMI), systolic blood pressure(SBP), diastolic blood pressure(DBP), fasting blood glucose(FBG), triglyceride(TG), total cholesterol(TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), alanine transferase(ALT) and uric acid were determined in all subjects. Results Serum GGT levels, BMI, SBP, DBP, TG, ALT, and uric acid were significantly higher in MS group than in normal control group(P＜0.01). HDL-C was significantly lower in MS group than in normal control group(P＜0.01). The prevalence of MS and MS components(including obesity, abnormal blood pressure, abnormal blood glucose, and abnormal blood lipid) were all significantly increased with the increase of inter-quartile interval of GGT(P＜0.01). Multiple linear regression showed that GGT was positively associated with DBP,TG,ALT,uric acid and the number of MS components (P＜0.01), but negetively correlated with HDL-C (P＜0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that serum GGT was a risk factor of MS(OR = 1.008, 95%CI 1.000?1.024, P = 0.046). Conclusion In elderly individuals, serum GGT is closely related with MS. GGT may be a screening biomarker of MS after excluding liver diseases.