OBJECTIVES: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and is the leading cause of death among Chilean women. Health policies implemented to improve access to mammography were incorporated in 2005, which has led to detecting more cases of breast cancer at earlier stages. This analysis characterizes hospital discharge patterns over the last 10 years among Chilean women with breast cancer. METHODS: Annual governmental reports [Superintendent of Health] (2005-2014) were analyzed to examine hospital discharge patterns among the Chilean population with breast cancer. Analyses included examining the number of hospital discharges overall and for women only, number of discharges due to breast cancer in women, hospital discharge rate per 100,000 women, average days of hospitalization per discharge, and average discharges per patient-year. RESULTS: Tumors are the leading cause of hospitalization in Chile due to disease reported in the past ten years (12.5% to 14.3% of all causes); most of the reported hospital discharges occurred in women (53,6% to 59,0%). Five to seven percent of all female hospital discharges are due to malignant tumors; most of these are for breast tumors (37,3% to 42,6%). For the overall female population, the rate of hospital discharges due to breast cancer has increased from 336 per 100,000 women in 2005 to 641 per 100,000 women in 2014. For women with breast cancer between 45 and 64 years and >65 years, the hospital discharge rate increased to 1,702 and 2,275 per 100,000, respectively. For the whole population (male and female) with breast cancer, the average hospital length-of-stay per discharge was 2,0 days and the average number of hospital discharges was 3,5 per patient-year. CONCLUSIONS: The hospital discharge rate per 100,000 women due to breast cancer has an upward trend and has doubled in the last 10-years. Greater investment in healthcare resources may be needed to treat this patient population appropriately.