OBJECTIVES: Advanced (stage IIIB/C and IV) melanoma is an aggressive, deadly disease and has a high detrimental impact on patients and society, primarily due to premature death. Understanding the burden of advanced melanoma is therefore important for health policy and allocating appropriate healthcare resources to treatment. There is limited data available specifically related to burden of advanced melanoma on patients. The aim of this study was to estimate years of life lost in patients with advanced melanoma in 12 countries.  METHODS: Population growth and life expectancy were estimated from OECD data and country-specific life tables, respectively. Incidence and mortality data for advanced melanoma were collected from local cancer registries and GLOBOCAN 2008. Population growth and incidence rates by stage of disease were used to estimate the growth in the size of the melanoma patient population and new cases of advanced melanoma in 2014, respectively. Melanoma-specific mortality rates were used to estimate the number of patients surviving from previous years, to calculate prevalence, mortality and age at death for patients with advanced melanoma. Age and sex-adjusted life tables were subsequently used to estimate years of life lost for these patients.  RESULTS: Years of life lost due to advanced melanoma per patient were as follows: Australia (men: 19.9 years, women: 22.7 years); Brazil (16.3, 19.8); Canada (19.4, 22.3); France (18.8, 23.1); Germany (18.3, 20.8); Italy (19.3, 22.7); Mexico (17.2, 19.0); the Netherlands (18.5, 21.5); Spain (19.2, 23.1); Sweden (19.4, 22.0); UK (18.7, 21.2); US (17.9, 20.6). Country differences were primarily driven by melanoma mortality rates and disease-free life expectancy.  CONCLUSIONS:  This study estimated the years of life lost due to advanced melanoma in 12 countries and found variations across countries and variations between sexes; however, the burden of advanced melanoma is substantial in all of the countries.