In this paper we present an expression relating the lattice thermal expansion coefficient α L (10 −6 K −1 ) for the A III B V and A II B VI semiconductors with the product of ionic charges (Z 1 Z 2 ), melting temperature (T m ) and nearest neighbor distance d (Å). The lattice thermal expansion coefficient of these compounds exhibit a linear relationship when plotted on a log–log scale against the melting temperature (T m ), but fall on different straight lines according to the ionic charge product of the compounds. A good agreement has been found between the experimental and calculated values of the lattice thermal expansion coefficient for A III B V and A II B VI semiconductors.