diff --git a/example/example.code-workspace b/example/example.code-workspace
index b170d51..79f6d13 100644
--- a/example/example.code-workspace
+++ b/example/example.code-workspace
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 	],
 	"settings": {
 		"coverage-gutters.showLineCoverage": true,
+		"coverage-gutters.showHitCounts": true,
 		"coverage-gutters.coverageReportFileName": "index.html",
 		"coverage-gutters.remotePathResolve": ["/var/www/", "./"]
 	}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9a646e2..d1292ea 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -71,6 +71,12 @@
           "default": "rgba(163, 0, 0, 0.4)",
           "description": "dark theme partial highlight for code coverage"
         },
+        "coverage-gutters.hitCountColor": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "scope": "resource",
+          "default": "rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8)",
+          "description": "color for hit count numbers in the gutter"
+        },
         "coverage-gutters.showLineCoverage": {
           "type": "boolean",
           "default": false,
@@ -89,6 +95,12 @@
           "default": true,
           "description": "show or hide the gutter coverage"
         },
+        "coverage-gutters.showHitCounts": {
+          "type": "boolean",
+          "scope": "resource",
+          "default": false,
+          "description": "show hit counts as numbers in the gutter"
+        },
         "coverage-gutters.ignoredPathGlobs": {
           "type": "string",
           "scope": "resource",
diff --git a/src/coverage-system/renderer.ts b/src/coverage-system/renderer.ts
index 6edf767..1d015dd 100644
--- a/src/coverage-system/renderer.ts
+++ b/src/coverage-system/renderer.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { Section } from "lcov-parse";
 import {
     Range,
     TextEditor,
+    DecorationOptions
 } from "vscode";
 import { Config } from "../extension/config";
 import { SectionFinder } from "./sectionfinder";
@@ -10,11 +11,13 @@ export interface ICoverageLines {
     full: Range[];
     partial: Range[];
     none: Range[];
+    hitCounts: Map<number, number>;
 }
 
 export class Renderer {
     private configStore: Config;
     private sectionFinder: SectionFinder;
+    private maxHitCount: number = 0;
 
     constructor(
         configStore: Config,
@@ -37,6 +40,7 @@ export class Renderer {
             full: [],
             none: [],
             partial: [],
+            hitCounts: new Map(),
         };
 
         textEditors.forEach((textEditor) => {
@@ -49,6 +53,8 @@ export class Renderer {
             coverageLines.full = [];
             coverageLines.none = [];
             coverageLines.partial = [];
+            coverageLines.hitCounts = new Map();
+            this.maxHitCount = 0;
 
             // find the section(s) (or undefined) by looking relatively at each workspace
             // users can also optional use absolute instead of relative for this
@@ -73,6 +79,9 @@ export class Renderer {
             this.configStore.partialCoverageDecorationType,
             [],
         );
+        
+        // Clean up hit count decorations if they exist
+        editor.setDecorations(this.configStore.hitCountDecorationType, []);
     }
 
     public setDecorationsForEditor(
@@ -92,6 +101,65 @@ export class Renderer {
             this.configStore.partialCoverageDecorationType,
             coverage.partial,
         );
+        
+        // Apply hit count decorations if enabled
+        if (this.configStore.showHitCounts) {
+            this.setHitCountDecorations(editor, coverage);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private setHitCountDecorations(
+        editor: TextEditor,
+        coverage: ICoverageLines,
+    ) {
+        const hitCountDecorations: DecorationOptions[] = [];
+        
+        const paddingWidth = this.maxHitCount.toString().length;
+        
+        const addEmptyPadding = (startLine: number, endLine: number) => {
+            for (let line = startLine; line <= endLine; line++) {
+                hitCountDecorations.push({
+                    range: new Range(line, 0, line, 0),
+                    renderOptions: {
+                        before: {
+                            // We use this special invisible character for the margin since spaces are trimmed
+                            contentText: '\u00A0'.repeat(paddingWidth) + '\u00A0',
+                        }
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+        };
+
+        let lastLineNumber = -1;
+
+        // Create decorations for all lines with coverage data
+        coverage.hitCounts.forEach((hitCount, lineNumber) => {
+            if (lineNumber > lastLineNumber + 1) {
+                addEmptyPadding(lastLineNumber + 1, lineNumber - 1);
+            }
+            
+            const range = new Range(lineNumber, 0, lineNumber, 0);
+            const displayValue = hitCount > 1000 ? '>1000' : hitCount.toString();
+            const paddedHitCount = displayValue.padStart(paddingWidth, '\u00A0');
+            
+            hitCountDecorations.push({
+                range,
+                renderOptions: {
+                    before: {
+                        contentText: paddedHitCount + '\u00A0',
+                    }
+                }
+            });
+            
+            lastLineNumber = lineNumber;
+        });
+
+        // Fill gap at end of file if needed
+        if (lastLineNumber < editor.document.lineCount - 1) {
+            addEmptyPadding(lastLineNumber + 1, editor.document.lineCount - 1);
+        }
+
+        editor.setDecorations(this.configStore.hitCountDecorationType, hitCountDecorations);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -120,6 +188,11 @@ export class Renderer {
         .filter((detail) => detail.line > 0)
         .forEach((detail) => {
             const lineRange = new Range(detail.line - 1, 0, detail.line - 1, 0);
+            
+            // Store hit count for this line
+            coverageLines.hitCounts.set(detail.line - 1, detail.hit);
+            this.maxHitCount = Math.max(this.maxHitCount, detail.hit);
+            
             if (detail.hit > 0) {
                 // Evaluates to true if at least one element in range is equal to LineRange
                 if (coverageLines.none.some((range) => range.isEqual(lineRange))) {
diff --git a/src/extension/config.ts b/src/extension/config.ts
index d6a6b7d..9503df9 100644
--- a/src/extension/config.ts
+++ b/src/extension/config.ts
@@ -16,11 +16,13 @@ export class Config {
     public fullCoverageDecorationType!: TextEditorDecorationType;
     public partialCoverageDecorationType!: TextEditorDecorationType;
     public noCoverageDecorationType!: TextEditorDecorationType;
+    public hitCountDecorationType!: TextEditorDecorationType;
     public showStatusBarToggler!: boolean;
     public ignoredPathGlobs!: string;
     public remotePathResolve!: string[];
     public manualCoverageFilePaths!: string[];
     public watchOnActivate!: boolean;
+    public showHitCounts!: boolean;
 
     private context: ExtensionContext;
 
@@ -71,6 +73,8 @@ export class Config {
         const showGutterCoverage = rootConfig.get("showGutterCoverage") as string;
         const showLineCoverage = rootConfig.get("showLineCoverage") as string;
         const showRulerCoverage = rootConfig.get("showRulerCoverage") as string;
+        this.showHitCounts = rootConfig.get("showHitCounts") as boolean;
+        const hitCountColor = rootConfig.get("hitCountColor") as string;
 
         const makeIcon = (colour: string): string | Uri => {
             colour = colour
@@ -138,12 +142,19 @@ export class Config {
             overviewRulerLane: OverviewRulerLane.Full,
         };
 
+        const hitCountDecoration: DecorationRenderOptions = {
+            before: {
+                color: hitCountColor,
+            }
+        };
+
         this.cleanupEmptyGutterIcons(fullDecoration, partialDecoration, noDecoration);
 
         // Generate decorations
         this.noCoverageDecorationType = window.createTextEditorDecorationType(noDecoration);
         this.partialCoverageDecorationType = window.createTextEditorDecorationType(partialDecoration);
         this.fullCoverageDecorationType = window.createTextEditorDecorationType(fullDecoration);
+        this.hitCountDecorationType = window.createTextEditorDecorationType(hitCountDecoration);
 
         // Assign the key and resolved fragment
         this.remotePathResolve = rootConfig.get("remotePathResolve") as string[];