The invention relates to a carbonyl iron foam wave-absorbing material. Carbonyl iron which is large in magnetic loss, wave-absorbing strength and density is used as an absorbent to be added into a soft polyurethane foam base body, and the density and the mass of the carbonyl iron foam wave-absorbing material can be effectively reduced; the wave-absorbing performance of the material can be adjusted by changing the dipping times and the thickness of the base body, and the wave-absorbing material excellent in whole performance can be obtained. A method for manufacturing the carbonyl iron foam wave-absorbing material comprises the steps of preparing an adhesive glue solution, preparing an absorbent glue solution, dipping the soft polyurethane foam base body into the absorbent glue solution at multiple times repeatedly, removing an excess glue solution, placing the base body into a vacuum drying box to be dried, carrying out machining according to the specified dimension, and obtaining a finished product of the carbonyl iron foam wave-absorbing material. The overall wave-absorbing performance of the carbonyl iron foam wave-absorbing material is good, the surface density is low, the absorbed frequency is wide, the technology is simple and efficient, the repeatability is good, the radar wave absorbing effect is obvious, and the wide application prospect of the method in the radar camouflage field and the electromagnetic shielding field is displayed.