The present invention provides a method and a network element for acquiring information about a packet. The method includes: after a UE establishes a bearer, sending, by a first network element, a first acquiring request to a second network element, where the first acquiring request is used to instruct the second network element to acquire information about a packet that is transmitted between the UE and a packet data network PDN and passes through the second network element; and receiving, by the first network element, information about a packet, where the information about the packet is sent by the second network element, and the information about the packet is information that is about a packet and is collected by the second network element according to the first acquiring request.