Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of patients with decompensated hepatitis C cirrhosis in hospital from 2012 to 2019. Methods Data of 496 patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis who were treated in the inpatient department of the hospital from 2012 to 2019 were collected. The age and gender distribution, basic information, the first complications during follow-up and the cause of death were analyzed. Results Patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis were mainly male and ≥ 60 years old. The proportion of males was significantly higher than that of females (P<0.05). There were significant differences in gender, age, region, years of hepatitis C infection, family history of liver disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, antiviral treatment and child Pugh classification of liver function (P<0.05). The first complication of patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis from highest to lowest rate were ascites, spontaneous peritonitis, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, esophagogastric varices and hepatic encephalopathy. During the follow-up period, 97 patients died, with an annual mortality rate of 4.89%. The causes of death ranked from high to low were primary liver cancer, hemorrhagic shock, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome, multiple organ function failure, and septic shock. Conclusion Age, gender, region, years of hepatitis C infection, family history of liver disease, diabetes, hypertension, antiviral treatment and liver function were important influencing factors for the occurrence of decompensated liver cirrhosis in the hospital from 2012 to 2019. Health education should be strengthened and corresponding intervention measures should be formulated to reduce the incidence of decompensated liver cirrhosis.