Synthetic pyrethroid insecticides is the third largest class of insecticides. The residue of this kind of insecticides has become one of the most dominant insecticide residues in farm produce. And microorganism has important function on degrading pesticide residues. Therefore, the technology of microbial degradation has turned into the organic production technology to remove pesticide residues. Up to now, the study on microbial degradation of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides mostly focuses on degrading phenomena, isolation, identification, physiological and biochemical characteristics of strains, enzymology, the degradation of different optic isomers, degrading pathway and so on. This paper particularly reviews these domestic and overseas study. Moreover, it prospects the study direction in the future.