Objective To know the prevalent trend of goiter in Shaanxi province and to provide the basic data for making the control strategy. Methods In 2002, with the population proportionate sampling, the investigation was conducted according to China National Criteria for Diagnosis and Grade Division of Endemic Goiter GB16004-1995. Results The prevalence rate of goiter was 6.52%, the number of patients with visible goiter was 317 000 in Shaanxi province. Conclusion It was not proper to evaluate the population iodine nutrition by the goiter rate of children aged 8-10 years, it may aggrandize the serious degree of IDD. Up to now, the number of patients with visible goiter is decreased by 659 000 and no new Cretinism patient has been found in Shaanxi.