BackgroundUrinary tract infections (UTIs) are some of the most common infections worldwide and consume a lot of medical resources every year. However, there were a lack of available data on its incidence and disease burden. We armed to investigate incidence, mortality, and disability adjusted life-years (DALYs) of urinary tract infections (UTIs) from 1990 to 2017.MethodsWe extracted data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, then calculated estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) of age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized death rate (ASDR), and age-standardized DALYs rate at global, national, regional, and socio-demographic index (SDI) level.ResultsFrom 1990 to 2017, the globally incident cases (+52.09%), death cases (+140.10%), and DALYs (+69.65%) of UTIs all increased. The ASIR, ASDR, and age-standardized DALYs rate showed upward trends with the EAPC of +0.10 (95%CI: 0.07 to 0.12), +0.72 (95%CI: 0.65-0.78), and +0.06 (95%CI: -0.05 to 0.16), respectively. The ASIR decreased only in the high-middle SDI quantile (-0.26, 95%CI: -0.3 to -0.23). United Arab Emirates had the largest increase of DALYs (+835.04%), but Bulgaria had the largest decrease (-80.74%). EAPC for incidence and mortality were below 0 mainly in Europe and East Asia. In 2017, the incident cases (+3.44 times), the deaths (+1.31 times), and DALYs (+1.21 times) were all higher in females than males. The incident cases were mainly concentrated in 15-49 years old; DALYs and mortality were higher in over 80 age groups.ConclusionsGlobally, the burden of UTIs increased from 1990 to 2017, especially in females; however, distinct varies were observed in different regions and countries. The infants and elders are easier to die when they suffer from UTIs.