The purpose of this study was to explore whether interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene promoter polymorphisms and their haplotypes contribute to the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). A meta-analysis was conducted on the associations of the IL-10-3575T/A, -1082 G/A, -819 C/T, -592C/A polymorphisms and the haplotypes with NHL. A total of 23 studies involving 21,563 NHL patients and 23,837 controls were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled results indicated that IL-10-3575T/A was associated with an increased risk of NHL based on the dominant model (OR: 1.095, 95% CI: 1.020-1.178), similar results were found for -1082A/G in the heterozygous and recessive models (OR: 1.042, 95% CI: 1.012-1.074; and OR: 1.034, 95% CI: 1.011-1.057, respectively). In the ethnic subgroup analysis, -3575T/A had an increased risk of NHL in Caucasians based on the homozygous model (OR: 1.071, 95% CI: 1.001-1.146), and similar results were found for -1082A/G in the heterozygous and recessive models (OR: 1.041, 95% CI: 1.009-1.075; and OR: 1.031, 95% CI: 1.008-1.055, respectively). When stratified by subtypes, -3575T/A and -1082A/G polymorphisms were found significant association with an increased risk of B cell lymphoma, specifically diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Moreover, -3575T/A was associated with an increased risk of follicular lymphoma (FL) in the homozygous and recessive models. Furthermore, we observed that significantly increased risk of NHL and DLBCL were associated with the A-G-C-C haplotype (IL-10-3575T/A, -1082A/G, -819C/T and -592C/A), and a decreased risk of DLBCL subtype was associated with the T-A-C-C haplotype. IL-10-3575T/A and -1082A/G polymorphisms were associated with altered NHL susceptibility, especially for Caucasians and B cell lymphoma. IL-10 (-3575T/A, -1082A/G, -819C/T and -592C/A) haplotype were associated with NHL and DLBCL subtype. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.