Accumulating evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are playing critical roles in tumorgenesis. LncRNA ANRIL has been reported to promote tumor progression in types of cancers. However, the expression and function of ANRIL in cervical cancer are still largely unclear. We measured the expression of ANRIL in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines and analyzed its association with clinicopathological features and prognosis. Loss-of-function experiments were used to identify the biological function of ANRIL. Our results showed that the expression of lncRNA ANRIL was significantly increased both in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines. Patients with high ANRIL expression had advanced FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis and poor overall survival than those with low ANRIL expression. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis suggested that high ANRIL expression was an independent prognostic factor of prognosis. Loss-of-function experiments showed that decreased expression of ANRIL inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical cancer. Finally, western blot indicated that the PI3K/Akt pathway was found to be inactivated in cervical cancer cells after ANRIL inhibition. These results indicated that lncRNA ANRIL might play an important role in cervical cancer progression and could serve as a novel prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in cervical cancer.