The invention discloses a method for preparing 2-hydroxybenzonitrile from ammonium salicylate as a raw material, comprising the following steps of: introducing ammonia gas or ammonia water to a salicylic acid slurry until the pH of the solution is 7.5-13.0, then evaporating to obtain ammonium salicylate solid; forming a mixture from the ammonium salicylate solid, urea, sulfamic acid, a catalyst and a solvent, wherein the catalyst is prepared from 0.0001-10 of magnesium oxide, 0.0001-5 of aluminum oxide, 0.0001-8 of calcium oxide, 0.0001-8 of silicon oxide and 0.0001-10 of artificial zeolite, and the solvent is prepared from 0.0001-10 of o-methyl phenol, 0.0001-6 of p-methyl phenol, 0.0001-8 of diethylene glycol, 0.0001-9 of methyl salicylate, 0.0001-10 of diphenyl oxide and 0.0001-12 of dichlorophenol; and after insulating at 150-180 DEG C for 0.5-10.0 hours and insulating at 190-260 DEG C for 0.5-10.0 hours, filtering or centrifuging the material, evaporating to remove the solvent, crystallizing, recrystallizing, and drying to obtain the 2-hydroxybenzonitrile product of which the mass percentage composition is greater than 90%.