〔Abstract〕 Objective To explore the epidemiological characteristics of influenza in Anhui province from 2017 to 2018, so as to provide evidences for the formulation of influenza prevention and control. Methods The data were collected from information system for China diseases control and prevention,including influenza-like illness(ILI) case report, pathogen surveillance report.SPSS 16.0 software was used for data analysis. Results The ILI number and average percentage of influenza-like cases(ILI %) in Anhui province from 2017 to 2018 were 283 827 and 4.42 % respectively. Both ILI and ILI % were highly seasonal, with a significant peak in January 2018. The proportion of ILI cases was highest in age group 0-4(59.74 %), whereas lowest in age group 60 and above(3.36 %). From 2017 to 2018, a total of 38 869 swab samples from ILI patients were collected and tested,from which 5,490 specimens were RNA positive, with a positive rate of 14.12 %. The positive rate varied among different months, and different age groups(P<0.001). The percentages of virus subtypes were significantly different among people in different months and age groups(χ2=7 092.0,P<0.001; χ2=879.1,P<0.001). There were positive corelations both between ILI %, positive rate of influenza and the ILI counts(r s =0.585,P<0.05;r s =0.691,P<0.05). Conclusion The percentage of ILI in children under the age of 5 is the highest, and the number of ILI cases in winter 2018 has surged compared to 2017. Different virus subtypes prevail alternatively from 2017 to 2018. The main subtypes of influenza virus are different among different age groups.