To provide an aqueous ink comprising a dispersant comprising a graft copolymer with excellent dispersibility of a dispersoid such as a pigment and being capable of maintaining a dispersion state stably for a prolonged period in a dispersion medium such as an aqueous medium.

The aqueous ink comprises the graft copolymer with a weight average molecular weight of 1,000-100,000 having a polymer having a weight average molecular weight of 300-10,000 represented by general formula (1):-COO(-C5H10-COO-)qH, wherein q is 1 or more, as a side chain, and a hydrophobic monomer unit as an essential component, and, if necessary, a polymer having other copolymerizable monomer unit as a constitutional component as a main chain, as a dispersant.