Objective To assess the myocardial microcirculation of patients with hypertension using intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging, and to analyze the differences compared with normal volunteers. Methods Thirty normal volunteers and 18 hypertensive patients, who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance cine and IVIM scans in our hospital from May 2015 to Sep. 2018, were enrolled. The IVIM scan was performed on middle view of left ventricular short-axis with 8 b values (20, 50, 80, 100, 120, 200, 300 and 500 s/mm²). The structural and functional parameters were measured on left ventricular short-axis, and the IVIM parameters (fast apparent diffusion coefficient[ADC_fast], slow apparent diffusion coefficient, fraction of ADC_fast) were measured using biexponential model. The differences of all parameters were analyzed between the normal volunteers and hypertensive patients. Results The left ventricular ejection fraction, cardiac output and myocardial mass of the hypertensive patients were higher than those of the normal volunteers ([68.39±7.51]% vs[63.20±5.22]%,[6.84±2.03] L vs[5.41±1.08] L, and[122.54±33.63] g vs[85.97±25.42] g), and the differences were significant (t=-2.75, -2.64 and -4.15; all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the left ventricular end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, stroke volume or cardiac index between the hypertensive patients and normal volunteers (all P>0.05). The ADC_fast of the hypertensive patients was significantly lower than that of the normal volunteers (0.12[0.03-0.17] mm²/s vs 0.14 [0.10-0.21] mm²/s, Z=-2.83, P<0.01). Conclusion The application of IVIM can contribute to evaluating myocardial microcirculation of the hypertensive patients.