Abstract: Objective To investigate the sexual disparity and determinants of depression among the rural elderly in China, so as to provide evidences narrowing the disparity of depression and promoting health equity in elderly population. Methods China health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS) dataset of 2015, Fairlie decomposition was adopted to analyze the disparity in depression between the male and femal elderly. Results The prevalence of depression among the rural elderly was 39.09%, and the prevalence of depression in women was higher than that in men (47.82% vs 32.43%, χ²=97.05,P<0.001). Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that region, sleep length,daily activity,self-rated health and pain were the common factors affecting the the prevalence of depression among men and women, while marital status and social activity were the factors affecting the prevalence of depression among men.Fairlie decomposition analysis revealed that 72.06% of the male-female disparity in depression could be explained by observable factors and 27.94% by gender. Conclusions The prevalence of depression in rural elderly men was lower than that in elderly women. Lifestyle, physical health and pain are the main factors causing gender differences in depressive symptoms in rural elderly people.