Purpose We aimed to evaluate the relation between visceral fat volume and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake of the liver measured by maximum or mean standardized uptake value. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 96 consecutive records of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) performed for cancer screening between May 2011 and December 2011. Subjects were divided into 2 groups according to Hounsfield unit (HU) of the liver comparing with that of the spleen. The control group (20 women, 56 men) demonstrating HU of the liver equal or greater than that of the spleen included 76 patients, while the fatty liver group (2 women, 18 men) showing HU of the liver less than that of the spleen included 20 patients. We compared FDG uptake of the liver and visceral fat volume between two groups. We evaluated correlation of hepatic FDG uptake measured by maximum or mean standardized uptake value (SUV) with visceral fat volume and attenuation. Results The fatty liver disease group showed higher aspartate aminotransferase (AST)of ($24.42{pm}7.22$, p=0.012), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of ($25.16{pm}11.68$, p=0.001), body mass index (BMI) of ($24.58{pm}3.29$, p=0.021), and visceral fat volume ($3063.53{pm}1561.43$, p=0.011) than the control group. There were no statistically significant differences of mean standardized uptake value of the liver (liver $SUV_{mean}$) ($2.73{pm}0.19$, p=0.723), maximum standardized uptake value of the liver (liver $SUV_{max}$) ($3.39{pm}0.53$, p=0.8248) and liver $SUV_{mean}$/spleen $SUV_{mean}$ ($1.13{pm}0.10$, p=0.081) between the two groups. Strong correlations were shown between liver $SUV_{mean}$ and BMI (r=0.609, p<0.001) and between liver $SUV_{mean}$ and visceral fat volume (r=0.457, p<0.001). Liver $SUV_{max}$ was also strongly correlated with BMI (r=0.622, p=0.001) and visceral fat volume (r=0.547, p<0.001). There was no significant association of mean attenuation value of the liver (liver $HU_{mean}$) with liver $SUV_{mean}$ (r=-0.003, p=0.979) or liver $SUV_{max}$ (r=-0.120, p=0.244). Conclusion Hepatic FDG uptake quantified as $SUV_{mean}$ or $SUV_{max}$ is not correlated with hepatic steatosis but with visceral fat volume in cancer screening.