A surface-coated cutting tool, which has a coating layer composed of an outermost layer and an inner layer on the surface of a substrate, wherein the inner layer comprises a compound of a metal belonging to IVa, Va or VIa Group of the Periodic Table, Al, Si or B, and the outermost layer comprises aluminum nitride or aluminum carbonitride and further comprises chlorine in an amount of more than 0 %and not more than 0.5 atomic %. An aluminum nitride based film, having itself good thermal stability and lubricity, which further comprises a specific amount of chlorine, is prone to the formation ofa protective coating on the surface of a tool having the film during cutting operation. The protective coating allows the enhancement of the lubricity of the surface. As a result, the above surface-coated cutting tool exhibits excellent lubricity even when it is used in dry working, mist working or the like, and thus has a prolonged life.