A surface-coated cutting tool, comprising: a base material; and a coating formed on the base material, the coating including an α-Al 2 O 3 layer containing a plurality of crystal grains of α-Al 2 O 3, the α-Al 2 O 3 layer comprising an area A 1 occupied by crystal grains A of α-Al 2 O 3 having a particle size not smaller than 1 μm and not greater than 3 μm being equal to or less than 50% and an area A 2 in the area A 1 occupied by the crystal grains having a normal direction of a plane within ± 10° with respect to a normal direction of the processed surface being equal to or more than 90%, an area B 1 occupied by crystal grains B of α-Al 2 O 3 having a particle size not smaller than 0.5 μm and less than 1 μm being equal to or more than 20% and equal to or less than 50% and an area B 2 in the area B 1 occupied by the crystal grains having a normal direction of the plane within ± 10° with respect to the normal direction of the processed surface being equal to or more than 90%, and an area C 1 occupied by crystal grains C of α-Al 2 O 3 having a particle size not smaller than 0.05 μm and less than 0.5 μm being equal to or more than 10% and equal to or less than 50% and an area C 2 in the area C 1 occupied by the crystal grains having a normal direction of the plane within ± 10° with respect to the normal direction of the processed surface being equal to or more than 50%, wherein the occurrence of grains is obtained by specifying respective crystal orientations of the crystal grains by performing electron beam backscattering diffraction analyses with a field emission-type scanning microscope on a processed surface which is in parallel to a surface of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer and is obtained by removing the α-Al 2 O 3 layer located in a region extending from the surface by a length not smaller than 0.1 μm and not greater than 0.5 μm in a depth direction, and by preparing a 15-μm square color map based on the crystal orientations, and a ratio of a total area of the area A 1, the area B 1 and the area C 1 to an area of the entire color map being equal to or more than 95%. a base material; and a coating formed on the base material, the coating including an α-Al 2 O 3 layer containing a plurality of crystal grains of α-Al 2 O 3, the α-Al 2 O 3 layer comprising an area A 1 occupied by crystal grains A of α-Al 2 O 3 having a particle size not smaller than 1 μm and not greater than 3 μm being equal to or less than 50% and an area A 2 in the area A 1 occupied by the crystal grains having a normal direction of a plane within ± 10° with respect to a normal direction of the processed surface being equal to or more than 90%, an area B 1 occupied by crystal grains B of α-Al 2 O 3 having a particle size not smaller than 0.5 μm and less than 1 μm being equal to or more than 20% and equal to or less than 50% and an area B 2 in the area B 1 occupied by the crystal grains having a normal direction of the plane within ± 10° with respect to the normal direction of the processed surface being equal to or more than 90%, and an area C 1 occupied by crystal grains C of α-Al 2 O 3 having a particle size not smaller than 0.05 μm and less than 0.5 μm being equal to or more than 10% and equal to or less than 50% and an area C 2 in the area C 1 occupied by the crystal grains having a normal direction of the plane within ± 10° with respect to the normal direction of the processed surface being equal to or more than 50%, wherein the occurrence of grains is obtained by specifying respective crystal orientations of the crystal grains by performing electron beam backscattering diffraction analyses with a field emission-type scanning microscope on a processed surface which is in parallel to a surface of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer and is obtained by removing the α-Al 2 O 3 layer located in a region extending from the surface by a length not smaller than 0.1 μm and not greater than 0.5 μm in a depth direction, and by preparing a 15-μm square color map based on the crystal orientations, and a ratio of a total area of the area A 1, the area B 1 and the area C 1 to an area of the entire color map being equal to or more than 95%.