Provided is a superfine polyester fiber containing at least 98 wt % of a polyethylene terephthalate component, and characterized by fulfilling the following conditions: (1) the reduced viscosity (ηsp/c) is at least 0.80 dl/g; (2) the total fineness is 7-120 dtex, and the single filament fineness is no more than 0.5 dtex; and (3) the toughness parameter (X) indicated by formula (1) is at least 2.0, the tensile strength is at least 3.5 cN/dtex and the tensile elongation is at least 12%.X=(tensile strength×√tensile elongation)/(total fineness×single filament fineness) formula (1).