To provide a method for producing D-arabitol, enabling to obtain the compound useful as an intermediate for synthesizing xylitol from a low cost raw material with a good yield, by hydrolyzing a lactose solution, oxidizing the hydrolysates, decarboxylating the oxidation products, and subsequently catalytically hydrogenating the products.

This method for producing D-arabitol comprises hydrolyzing a lactose solution by a chemical means or with an enzyme, oxidizing the obtained mixture of glucose with galactose with air or oxygen in the presence of a palladium catalyst in an alkaline medium or with a microorganism such as a Gluconobacter oxidizing agent ATCC 19357 or 23773, subjecting the obtained mixture of gluconic acid with galactonic acid to a decarboxylation reaction using hydrogen peroxide, and subsequently catalytically hydrogenating the obtained mixture of D-arabitol with D-lyxose in the presence of Raney nickel, etc.