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 including a lower layer portion which is located on a base material side in a thickness direction and an upper layer portion which is located on a surface side opposite to the base material side, and when respective crystal orientations of the crystal grains are specified by performing electron beam backscattering diffraction analyses with a field emission-type scanning microscope, on a cross section obtained when the α-Al 2 O 3 layer is cut along a plane including a normal line of a surface of the (α-Al 2 O 3 layer and a color map is prepared based on the crystal orientations, in the color map, an area in the upper layer portion occupied by the crystal grains of which normal direction of a plane is within ±10° with respect to a normal direction of the surface of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer being equal to or more than 90%, and an area in the lower layer portion occupied by the crystal grains of which normal direction of the plane is within ±10° with respect to the normal direction of the surface of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer being equal to or less than 50%, characterized in that the lower layer portion has a thickness of 1 μm, and the upper layer portion has a thickness of 2 μm, the α-Al 2 O 3 layer has a stress distribution varying in the thickness direction, the surface side of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer has a compressive residual stress, and the base material side of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer has a tensile residual stress. 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 including a lower layer portion which is located on a base material side in a thickness direction and an upper layer portion which is located on a surface side opposite to the base material side, and when respective crystal orientations of the crystal grains are specified by performing electron beam backscattering diffraction analyses with a field emission-type scanning microscope, on a cross section obtained when the α-Al 2 O 3 layer is cut along a plane including a normal line of a surface of the (α-Al 2 O 3 layer and a color map is prepared based on the crystal orientations, in the color map, an area in the upper layer portion occupied by the crystal grains of which normal direction of a plane is within ±10° with respect to a normal direction of the surface of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer being equal to or more than 90%, and an area in the lower layer portion occupied by the crystal grains of which normal direction of the plane is within ±10° with respect to the normal direction of the surface of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer being equal to or less than 50%, characterized in that the lower layer portion has a thickness of 1 μm, and the upper layer portion has a thickness of 2 μm, the α-Al 2 O 3 layer has a stress distribution varying in the thickness direction, the surface side of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer has a compressive residual stress, and the base material side of the α-Al 2 O 3 layer has a tensile residual stress.