A semiconductor laser device has a stacked structure formed on a main surface of a substrate (1) and including an MQW active layer (5) made of a group-III nitride semiconductor. The stacked structure has a stripe-shaped waveguide formed on a main surface thereof. One of opposing facets of the waveguide is a light emitting facet. A first region having a forbidden band width Eg1 in the MQW active layer (5), and a second region located adjacent to the first region and having a forbidden band width Eg2 in the MQW active layer (5) (where Eg2≠Eg1) are formed around the recess (2). The waveguide is formed so as to include the first region and the second region, and so as not to include the stepped region. The light emitting facet is formed in one (5a) of the first region and the second region, which has a shorter light absorption wavelength.