The grey-backed thrush (Turdus hortulorum) is an endangered bird species, which is mainly distributed in northern China, Korean Peninsula and Vietnam. In this study, the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome of T. hortulorum is determined. The circle genome was 16,759 bp in length and consisted of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 1 control region (D-loop). The mtDNA of T. hortulorum is similar to the typical mtDNA of birds and other vertebrates.