Background: AF is common after thoracic and esophageal surgical procedures. The full spectrum of risk factors, associations, and implications are unclear. Objective:The aim of this study was to assess the impact of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) after esophagectomy on short- and long-term outcome. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on patients with esophageal cancer who underwent esophagectomy with thoracotomy and laparotomy, with R0 or R1 resection between January 1997 and December 2012. For the 402 patients included in this study, we analyzed the stage of disease, neoadjuvant therapies, surgical approaches, surgical complications, postoperative medical complications, and overall and relapse-free survivals using medical records. Results: The median age was 62 (range 34-82). Most patients were male (90.0%) and had squamous cell carcinoma (90.3%). Pathological staging of the esophageal cancers according to UICC 7th TNM classification system was categorized as follows: 17 (4.2%), 96 (23.9%), 16 (4.0%), 43 (10.7%), 57 (14.2%), 78 (19.4%), 39 (9.7%), 37 (9.2%), and 19 (4.7%) patients were designated as stage 0, ⅠA, ⅠB, ⅡA, ⅡB, ⅢA, ⅢB, ⅢC and Ⅳ respectively. Of the 402 patients studied, 42 (10.6%) had AF, 87 (21.6%) had pneumonia, 80 (20.0%) had anastomotic leakage, and 69 (17.2%) had recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. At a median follow-up of 133 months, the median survival was 49 months, and 5-year survival was 48% in the AF group, compared with 138 months and 60% in the non-AF group (p = 0.212). AF was significantly associated with recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (p = 0.001), but not with pneumonia or anastomotic leakage. Conclusions: New-onset AF is common, mostly associated with recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis, but not with pneumonia or anastomotic leakage. AF has no impact on oncologic outcomes.