An object of the present invention is to provide magnesium oxide for an annealing separator which is useful for obtaining grain-oriented electromagnetic steel sheets with excellent magnetic properties and insulating properties. To resolve the above object, an aspect of the present invention resides in magnesium oxide for an annealing separator having a sulfur content of 0.1 to 0.5 mass % and an aggregation degree RBlaine/RBET of 3.0 to 5.5 wherein RBlaine is the particle size calculated from the Blaine specific surface area and RBET is the particle size calculated from the BET specific surface area.