Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) serve as a protein-rich staple, particularly in Mediterranean countries, where they are often grown in marginal and water-stressed areas. This meta-analysis synthesized evidence from peer-reviewed publications across Mediterranean countries to assess how chickpea rhizobial inoculation influences chickpea performance under different edapho-climatic conditions. The results demonstrated that the highest impact of rhizobial inoculation on nodule number (NN) occurred under semi-arid conditions (+34.98 nodules). Under sub-humid conditions, the most substantial gains of inoculation were observed in nodule dry weight (NDW) (+135.44 mg plant-1), shoot dry weight (SDW) (+7.67 g plant-1), and grain yield (GY) (+906 kg ha-1). Regarding soil types, fine-textured soils showed the most significant inoculation benefits for NN (+36.54 nodules) and NDW (+212.63 mg plant-1), whereas medium-textured soils showed the highest increase in SDW (+9.21 g plant-1) and GY (+1517.02 kg ha-1). Additionally, alkaline-pH soils demonstrated the highest inoculation impact on SDW (+7.65 g plant-1) and GY (+1054.78 kg ha-1). While soil salinity had a significant beneficial effect only on SDW in no-saline soils (+4.36 g plant-1), soil phosphorus (P2O5) showed a positive impact on both SDW (+7.59 g plant-1) and GY (+1527.6 kg ha-1). For seed protein content (SP), rhizobial inoculation showed no significant effect. However, co-inoculation of Mesorhizobium sp. and Enterobacter sp. consortium showed a promising improvement in NN, GY, and SP. Rhizobial inoculation showed a promising effect on Mediterranean chickpea performance. However, to address edapho-climatic challenges while ensuring potential contribution to soil health and food security, further research on tailored and adapted inoculants is mandatory. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.