Abstract: The present invention relates to a skin whitening composition containing mannosylerythritol lipid (MEL) as an active ingredient. The skin whitening composition according to the present invention suppresses the formation of skin melanocytes and improves the overall skin tone, and thus gives effectiveness of exhibiting clean, darkness-relieved, and bright skin. In addition, the composition can be easily formulated, and thus can be utilized in a high content for various dosage forms even without using a particular additional ingredient for formulating effective ingredient.