Objective To analyze the association between serum soluble programmed death ligand⁃1（sPD⁃ L1）expression levels and the clinical characteristics of vitiligo. Methods A total of 38 patients with vitiligo and 38 healthy controls were enrolled. Serum sPD ⁃ L1 level was determined by enzyme ⁃ linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）and analyzed in terms of the characteristics of vitiligo. Results The serum sPD ⁃ L1 levels in patients with vitiligo were significantly upregulated compared with those in the healthy controls［19.40（11.00，32.60）pg/mL vs. 16.20（9.10，19.90）pg/mL，P = 0.043］. Logistic regression analysis revealed that serum sPD⁃L1 level higher than 17.80 pg/mL is a risk factor for vitiligo（odds ratio = 3.46，95% confidence interval：1.32，9.05）. Serum sPD⁃L1 level was positively correlated with the lesion area（r = 0.336，P = 0.039）and age at disease onset（r = 0.347， P = 0.033）. Serum sPD⁃L1 levels in patients with rapidly progressive vitiligo were higher than in those with non⁃ rapidly progressive vitiligo［23.16（8.39，99.84）pg/mL vs. 12.89（2.38，72.91）pg/mL，P = 0.026］. Muti⁃variant linear regression analysis revealed that the disease activity and age of onset of vitiligo influenced the serum level of sPD⁃L1. Conclusions Elevated serum sPD⁃L1 was a risk factor for vitiligo. Serum sPD⁃L1 was positively correlated with age of onset of vitiligo and disease activity，and may be involved in the immune pathogenesis of vitiligo and the disease activity.