Objective To analyze the morbidity and mortality of colorectal cancer in the world and China in 2020 based on the global cancer statistics 2020 released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) combined with characteristics such as gender, age, human development index (HDI), etc., and to compare the epidemic status of colorectal cancer between China and the world. Methods The data of colorectal cancer of 185 countries or regions in the world were collected from GLOBOCAN 2020 database, and the HDI were collated according to the Human Development Report 2020 published by the United Nations Development Programme. Cancer data were stratified by age, gender and HDI to describe the epidemic status of colorectal cancer in the world and China. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between standardized incidence rate (SIR), standardized mortality rate (SMR), mortality to incidence ratio (M/I) and HDI. Results In 2020, the incident cases of colorectal cancer (1932000) worldwide ranked third among all cancer types and SIR (19.5/100000) ranked fourth. The deaths of colorectal cancer (935000) worldwide ranked second among all cancer types and SMR (9.0/100 000) ranked third. In 2020, the incident cases of colorectal cancer (555 000) in China ranked second in all cancer types, accounting for 28.8% of the global incident cases of colorectal cancer, and SIR (23.9/100000) ranked third among all cancer types in China. The deaths of colorectal cancer (286000) in China ranked fifth in all cancer types, accounting for 30.6% of the global deaths of colorectal cancer, and SMR (12.0/100000) ranked fifth among all cancer types in China. The incident cases, deaths, SIR and SMR of colorectal cancer were higher in males than females worldwide. SIR and SMR were positively correlated with HDI (r＝0.795 and 0.804, both P＜0.001), and M/I was negatively correlated with HDI (r＝－0.843, P＜0.001). The incident cases, deaths, SIR and SMR of colorectal cancer in the world and China increased with age, and increased rapidly after age group of 40 to 44. Conclusion The disease burden of colorectal cancer is serious globally and in China, and the epidemic status of colorectal cancer is different in different genders and ages and in countries or regions with different HDI levels. Analyzing and discussing the epidemic status and characteristics of colorectal cancer and understanding the influencing factors of colorectal cancer epidemic can provide theoretical basis and data support for further effective and precise prevention and control measures.