Background Kidney cancer's incidence and mortality vary in different regions and countries. To compare and interpret kidney cancer's burden and change trends in the globe and in different countries, we conducted this study to report the global kidney cancer burden and attributable risk factors. Methods Data about kidney cancer's incidence, death, disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) were extracted from the Global Burden of Diseases 2017. Besides, social-demographic index (SDI) values were adopted to investigate the correlation between kidney cancer's burden and social development degrees. Results In the globe, the incidence case of kidney cancer increased sharply from 207.31*10(3)in 1990 to 393.04*10(3)in 2017. High SDI countries had the highest kidney cancer's burden with a decreased trend in incidence rate. On the contrary, the incidence rate was rapidly increased in low-middle SDI countries, although their burden of kidney cancer kept relatively low. At the same time, the deaths of kidney cancer increased from 68.14*10(3)to 138.53*10(3), and the kidney cancer-related DALYs increased from 1915.49*10(3)in 1990 to 3284.32*10(3)in 2017. Then, we searched the GBD database for kidney cancer-related risk factor. The high body-mass index and smoking were the main factors contributing to kidney cancer-related mortality. Conclusions Generally, from 1990 to 2017, the incidence rate in developed countries had gone down from the historic peak values while the incidence rate was still on the rise in developing counties. Given the aging trend in the globe, it is necessary to appeal to the public to decrease the exposure of kidney cancer-associated risk factors.