The downregulation of microRNA‑26a (miR‑26a) has been reported in numerous types of cancer, but its detailed functional role in cervical cancer is not yet clear. In the present study, the expression of miR‑26a in human cervical cancer was confirmed and its contribution to cervical cancer progression was investigated. The expression of miR‑26a was determined by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction in human cervical tissues and cell lines. Cell growth and invasion were detected by cell counting kit‑8, colony‑forming assays and transwell assays following restoration of miR‑26a expression. Protein tyrosine phosphatase type IVA 1 (PRL‑1) was further validated as a target of miR‑26a by a functional luciferase assay and western blot analysis. In addition, the overexpression of miR‑26a in tumor formation in SCID mice was investigated in vivo, and the association between miR‑26a and PRL‑1 was assayed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. First, it was identified that miR‑26a was significantly downregulated in cervical cancer compared with the paired adjacent tissues. Forced expression of miR‑26a suppressed cell proliferation and invasion in vitro and inhibited the growth of tumor xenografts in vivo. PRL‑1 was determined as a novel target for miR‑26a and knockdown of PRL‑1 partially phenocopied the effect of miR‑26a restoration. In addition, PRL‑1 expression was inversely correlated with miR‑26a expression in cervical cancer tissues. In conclusion, the results demonstrated the role of miR‑26a in cervical cancer pathogenesis and suggest it may be used as a potential novel therapeutic strategy for cervical cancer.