The invention belongs to the technical field of chemical material preparation, and particularly relates to a method for preparing zirconium oxide powder by a hydrothermal method using solid waste zirconium as a raw material. The method comprises the steps that, the solid waste zirconium is alkalized through an alkalization reaction to obtain an alkalized material, the alkalized material is firstlytransformed, then reacted with sulfuric acid to obtain basic zirconium sulfate, and the basic zirconium sulfate is further reacted with sulfuric acid to obtain zirconium sulfate, a zirconium sulfatesolution is prepared from the zirconium sulfate, and zirconium oxide powder is obtained through a hydrothermal reaction. Through a two-step acidification reaction, purity of the zirconium sulfate is higher, the next hydrothermal reaction is benefited, and content of the zirconium oxide in the zirconium oxide powder is increased. According to the method for preparing the zirconium oxide powder by the hydrothermal method using the solid waste zirconium as the raw material, the zirconium oxide powder has small particle size, high purity, good dispersibility, high crystallinity, mild hydrothermalsynthesis conditions and simple process, a problem of disposal of the solid waste zirconium is avoided, and recycling use of the solid waste zirconium is realized.