The present study aimed to detect the expression of somatostatin (SS) and SS receptor (SSTR)1-5 in tissues from patients with endometriosis (EMS). Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis was applied to examine the expression of somatostatin gene in ectopic endometrial cells (EECs). The expression of somatostatin receptor 1-5 in the ectopic endometrium (EE), eutopic endometrium and normal endometrium and their association with EMS staging were determined by immunohistochemistry. The results indicated that the expression of SS in EECs was significantly higher compared with that in the control group. SSTR1-5 were expressed in the EE tissues from 30 patients with EMS, and the positive rates were 43.3, 70.0, 53.3, 50.0 and 96.7%, respectively, which were closely associated with EMS staging of the patients. The positive rates of SSTR1-5 expression in the eutopic endometrium from 12 patients with EMS were 33.3, 41.7, 58.3, 58.3 and 83.3%, respectively, while the positive rates of SSTR1-5 expression in the normal endometrium from 14 women without EMS were 7.1, 7.1, 21.4, 28.6 and 64.3%, which were lower than the positive rates of SSTR1-5 in the EE (43.3, 70, 53.3, 50 and 96.7%) and eutopic endometrial cells (33.3, 41.7, 58.3, 58.3 and 83.3%). In conclusion, SS was highly expressed in EECs. SSTR1-5 were expressed in the ectopic as well as eutopic endometrium, and low or moderate expression of SSTR1-4 and high expression of SSTR5 were detected in the ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissues, while low expression of SSTR1-4 and partial expression of SSTR5 were detected in normal endometrium. The positive rates of expression of SSTR1-5 in the EE cells and eutopic endometrium were higher than those in the normal endometrium. The expression of all the subtypes of SSTR in the EE tissues was closely associated with EMS staging.