Predictive value of cardiac tropnins (cTns) in stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) has not been fully investigated. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the dose-response relationship between serum detectable/rising cTns and adverse clinical outcomes, including all-cause mortality, cardiovascular (CV) mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure (HF) or major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in SCAD. Sixteen studies involved 34,854 subjects were included. Compared with patients with negative/undetectable cTns, those with rising/detectable cTns were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, CV mortality, MI, HF and MACEs [the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.83 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.61-2.08), 2.11 (1.80-2.48), 1.43 (1.26-1.62), 2.36 (1.97-2.83) and 1.99 (1.57-2.53), respectively]. Dose-response analysis have revealed that per 1-SD increment of cTnT was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, CV mortality, MI, HF and MACEs [the HR was 1.78 (1.20-2.63), 1.62 (1.41-1.85), 1.26 (1.12-1.42), 1.78 (1.17-2.69) and 1.26 (1.00-1.59), respectively]. Rising/detectable cTns was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, CV mortality, MI, HF and MACEs in SCAD in a dose-response manner.