OBJECTIVE： To compare the economics of interferon α1b and α2b in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. METHODS： By retrospective study， 114 patients with chronic hepatitis C who received interferon were selected， 60 patients received interferon α1b were divided into group A and 54 patients received interferon α2b were divided into group B. Negative conversion rate of HCV-RNA， normalization rate of ALT and the incidence of ADR in 2 groups were compared， and pharmacoeconomic analysis was conducted. RESULTS： Negative conversion rates of HCV-RNA in group A in 4， 12， 24， 36， 48 weeks were 55.00％， 71.67％， 63.33％， 61.67％ and 65.00％，group B were 64.81％， 66.67％， 62.96％， 55.56％ and 61.11％， respectively， there were no significant differences between 2 groups （P＞0.05）； after treatment， normalization rate of ALT in group A was 95.23％， group B was 96.10％， there was no significant difference between 2 groups （P＞0.05）； and there were no significant differences in the incidence of ADR between 2 groups （P＞0.05）， so cost-minimization analysis was used to evaluate pharmacoeconomics. Therapy cost in group A was 13 216.56 yuan， group B was 7 929.60 yuan， group B was lower to group A； sensitivity analysis received the same results. CONCLUSIONS： Interferon α2b is more economical than α1b in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.