A method and an apparatus for allocating an association identifier, so as to dynamically allocate an association identifier (AID) to a target station. The method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure includes sending, by an access point (AP), an AID allocation message to a target station, where the AID allocation message carries a target AID of the target station, and the target station is a station to be allocated with an AID or a station with an AID to be updated.