OBJECTIVES:  Heart failure (HF) is a common condition in the UK, with prevalence estimates of up to 0.9 million people. Each year, HF leads to approximately 152,000 hospitalisations, which is only one factor impacting patients‘ quality of life (QoL), together with reduced functional capacity, exercise performance and psychological status. Our objective was to quantify the impact of chronic heart failure (CHF) on patients’ QoL, compared with the general (age-matched) population. METHODS:  A systematic review (SR) was conducted to identify health state utility value (HSUV) evidence for patients with CHF. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane library and Econlit) were interrogated on 11^th May 2015. Electronic searches were supplemented by hand-searching of health technology assessment websites, conference proceedings and reference lists of included studies. Included studies had to be in adults with CHF, in an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country, and report a QoL outcome. RESULTS:  After removal of duplicates and two rounds of screening, 47 records (40 full papers, five abstracts and two posters) were included. Nineteen were considered key records, as their methodology was consistent with the NICE reference case. Mean EQ-5D values varied between HF sub-populations (e.g., New York Heart Association [NYHA] class is a key factor influencing EQ-5D) from 0.28–0.86, with 12 of 19 studies reporting mean EQ-5D values between 0.6 and 0.7. In contrast, EQ-5D utilities for the general and age-matched general population are 0.86 and 0.78, respectively. The 27 identified studies which did not meet the NICE reference case, confirm and support these results. CONCLUSIONS:  Compared with the age-matched general population, patients with CHF experience reduced QoL. QoL decreases with symptom severity, ranging from little to no reduction for NYHA I patients to a substantial reduction in QoL for NYHA IV patients, compared with the age-matched general population.