Abstract: The distribution of rocky desertification in Yunnan County with a large distribution of karst rocky desertification was the research object.To explore the dominant factors affecting the formation and development of rocky desertification, and use the combination of information entropy and analytic hierarchy to quantitatively analyze the driving factors. Results show that the order of importance of driving factors for rocky desertification is as population (0.278) > agricultural production (0.223) > industrial activity (0.187) > economic factor (0.123) > climate factor (0.080) > soil factor (0.044) > topography and landform (0.043) > vegetation factor (0.023). Natural population growth rates, land use patterns, mining for coal, gross regional product, population density and steep slope tillage are the core drivers of rocky desertification. The middle and high mountain areas of Yunnan Province are the areas with the highest concentration of rocky desertification. The area of rocky desertification reaches 2.80 million hm², accounting for 97.3% of the whole province's rocky desertification area. Among different land use types, the area of rocky desertification is most widely distributed under the types of woodland and arable land, which is 1.85 million hm², accounting for 64.1% of the total area of rocky desertification. From the causes of land rocky desertification, excessive woodcutting and deforestation (grass) caused the most rocky desertification area, the most serious degree.