The invention discloses a molybdenum borate up-conversion luminescent material activated by ytterbium ion Yb<3+> and a preparation method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of inorganic luminescent materials. A chemical constitution of the up-conversion luminescent material is R2-2xYb2xMoB2O9, wherein R is one or any combination of a rare-earth lanthanum ion La<3+>, a praseodymium ion Pr<3+>, a neodymium ion <Nd3+>, a samarium ion Sm<3+>, a europium ion Eu<3+>, a gadolinium ion Gd<3+>, and a terbium ion Tb<3+>; x is ytterbium ion Yb<3+> doped mole percent, and x is more than 0.0001 and is not more than 1.0; glaucous up-conversion luminescence can be realized under the activation of 975nm of infrared laser, so that the molybdenum borate up-conversion luminescent material is applicable to the preparation of an up-conversion laser, the laser anti-counterfeiting, the three-dimensional stereo display and the like, and has wide application prospects in the field of medical diagnosis, laser technology, optoelectronics, high-density photomemory and the like.