A measurement method and apparatus for residual direct-current components and a system where the measurement method includes: selecting a section of data of a first predetermined length respectively from received signals in two polarization states; performing a coordinate transform on the two selected sections of data to obtain a group of vectors of Strokes space; and determining a difference between power of the residual direct-current components according to the group of vectors of Strokes space. With the embodiments of this disclosure, residual direct-current components of an optical transmitter may be measured at a receiver end of a coherent optical communication system, thereby avoiding diagnosis errors of a communication network, and improving performance of the communication system.