This invention relates to a nickel-plated steel sheet with excellent corrosion resistance for battery casings and a method for manufacturing the same. In one specific embodiment, the nickel-plated steel sheet comprises: a base steel sheet; a nickel plating layer formed on at least one surface of the base steel sheet; and a nickel-iron diffusion layer formed between the base steel sheet and the nickel plating layer. The nickel plating layer and the nickel-iron (Ni-Fe) diffusion layer are formed by heat treatment after forming an electroplated nickel layer on the base steel sheet and a chemically plated nickel layer on at least a portion of the surface of the electroplated nickel layer. The nickel plating layer contains one or more vacancy elements selected from phosphorus (P), boron (B), tungsten (W), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), and copper (Cu) on its surface.