Abstract: In order to analyze the driving factors of the cultivated land change in Kunming, correlation analysis, regression analysis and path analysis were used to explore the factors. The study was based on the condition that area of cultivated land was diminishing and area of construction land was increasing in Kunming from 2000 to 2010. The results showed that the main driving factors were economic, population and technical factors. Economic factors (Kunming GDP, the total value of industrial production, fixed asset investment) were the most important. Population factor (total population) was the indirect effective factor. Technical factor (the total power of agricultural machinery) was more and more important. Economic and population growth led to the reduction of cultivated area per capita. Reduction in arable land and increase of population exacerbated the contradiction between people and land, and had a significant impact on ecology and environment.