Objective To analyze the clinical data of the elderly undergoing hepatectomy and investigate the safety of the surgery. Methods Clinical data of the patients undergoing hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma in our department from January 2014 to January 2016 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. According to their age, they were divided into the ≥70 years group (n=68) and ＜70 years group (n=84). Their comorbidities, tumor differentiation, Child-Pugh classification, and pre-operative positive rate of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), ratio of abnormal alpha fetoprotein (AFP), other laboratory indices, and indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min (ICG 15 min), as well as operation-related indices, such as, ratio of laparoscopic hepatectomy, operation time, blood loss during operation, postoperative ratio of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, length of postoperative hospital stay, incidences of postoperative complications, and postoperative mortality, were analyzed and compared between the 2 groups. The inter-group comparison was carried out with independent sample t test, Chi-square test or exact probability test. Results Compared with the ＜70 years group, the ≥70 years group had a significantly lower pre-operative positive rate of HBsAg (29.4% vs 71.4%), lower level of hemoglobin [Hb, (128.18±15.26) vs (138.57±16.67)g/L], but higher ratio of hypertension (38.2% vs 14.3%). There were no obvious differences in the ratio of laparoscopic hepatectomy, operation time, and peri-operative blood loss between the 2 groups (P>0.05). The incidences of post-operative cardiovascular events (13.2% vs 2.4%) and ratio of ICU stay (48.5% vs 17.9%) were notably higher in the ≥70 years group than in <70 years group (P<0.05), though no significances were found in postoperative complications, mortality and length of hospital stay between the 2 groups (P>0.05). Conclusion It is feasible to perform hepatectomy in the ≥70 years patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after strict indication and careful perioperative management.