The ac conduction in ZnO nanorods has been investigated in the frequency range of 100 Hz−1 MHz and at various temperatures between 303 and 543 K. An agreement between experimental and theoretical results suggests that the ac conduction in ZnO nanorods can be successfully explained by Correlated Barrier Hopping model. PL spectrum gives the evidence of surface defects in ZnO nanorods which contribute to this type of conduction mechanism. The different physical parameters such as hopping distance, density of charged defect states, etc. are calculated from the experimental data.