A label distribution method and device are disclosed. In an embodiment the method includes: a first routing device sends a first BGP update message including a first VPN instance identifier and a first RT to a second routing device; the first routing device receives a second BGP update message including a second VPN instance identifier and a second RT; the first routing device allocates a first VPN instance label to a second VPN instance after the second routing device determines that the first RT is equal to the second RT; and the first routing device sends a third BGP update message including the first VPN instance label to the second routing device. Mutual learning on VPN instances is performed, and a label is allocated to a VPN instance, so that a service tail end node can identify a VPN instance from which an L3VPN service specifically comes.