Author summary Why was this study done? Bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) have multifaceted impacts, including higher admission to intensive care units (ICUs), prolonged hospitalisations, and high economic and societal costs worldwide.Despite the global burden, most evidence on the excess burden of ARB BSIs has been derived from high-income countries; comparatively, there are limited data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). What did the researchers do and find? We employed a systematic literature review and subsequent meta-analysis of 109 individual studies to quantify the impact of ARB BSIs in hospitalised patients from LMICs.Based mostly on crude data comparisons ignoring the possible influence of confounding factors, we found that ARB BSIs, compared to BSIs caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria (ASB), were associated with substantially longer stays in hospitals and ICUs, higher mortality, and increased direct medical and productivity costs. What do these findings mean? Our findings highlight the excess morbidity, mortality, and costs associated with ARB BSIs and the sparsity of data from LMICs.Targeted strategies to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of resistant BSIs in LMICs are required to reduce the economic and disease burden.