In this surface-coated cutting tool, a hard coating layer (2) includes at least a layer of a complex nitride or complex carbonitride (3) expressed by a composition formula: (Cr 1-x Al x )(C y N 1-y ) or a layer of a complex nitride or complex carbonitride (3) expressed by a composition formula: (Ti 1-±-² Al ± Me ² )(C ³ N 1-³ ), crystal grains configuring the layer of a complex nitride or complex carbonitride (3) having an NaCl type face-centered cubic structure are present, and predetermined average crystal grain misorientation and inclined angle frequency distribution are present in the crystal grains having an NaCl type face-centered cubic structure.