A subject of the invention relates to providing a powder for a translucent zirconia sintered body which is necessary for the production of a zirconia sintered body having a high sintered-body density and high strength and giving an excellent sense of translucency, without conducting any special sintering, such as HIP sintering.The invention relates to a technique for obtaining, through normal-pressure sintering, a translucent zirconia sintered body characterized by comprising zirconia which contains 2-4 mol% yttria as a stabilizer, a crystal grain diameter of 0.20-0.45 microns and has an alumina content of 0.1-0.2 wt%, and by having a relative density of 99.8% or higher and a total light transmittance, as measured at a thickness of 1.0 mm, of 35% or higher. It is preferred that a powder containing 0.1-0.2 wt% alumina with a particle diameter of 0.01-0.5 µm, having a BET specific surface area of 5-16 m2/g and an average particle diameter of 0.3-0.7 µm, and having a rate of sintering shrinkage in normal-pressure sintering (Δρ/ΔT; g/cm3·°C) of 0.0125 or higher but 0.0160 or lower should be subjected to normal-pressure sintering in the atmosphere.