To provide an outboard motor control device that reduces an operation burden of a maneuvering driver at a shift lever operation by reducing a drive force of a prime motor at proper timing while being simple in constitution.

The outboard motor has a shift shaft for switching an in-gear position in which the drive force of the prime motor (engine) is transmitted to a propeller by turning a shift position according to the operation of the maneuvering driver and making it engaged with forward and reverse gears, and a neutral position in which the transmission of the drive force is blocked. The outboard motor comprises a neutral switch which generates an output when an turning angle of the shift shaft is in a first operation range indicating the neutral position, and a shift switch which generates an output when the turning angle of the shift shaft is in a second operation range which is composed of the first operation range and an additional range continuous to both sides of the first operation range. The outboard motor also reduces the drive force of the prime motor on the basis of the outputs of the neutral switch and the shift switch (S206 to S210).