Commercial AZ31 billets were extruded to round rods at three extrusion velocities of 0.8 m/min, 1.4 m/min and 2.2 m/min, at 643 K, 673 K and 703 K, respectively. The microstructure and texture evolution at different conditions were investigated by optical microscopy (OM) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) techniques. The average grain size is reduced significantly after the hot extrusion, and the microstructure is obviously inhomogeneous due to dynamic recrystallization, which is confirmed by uni-axial compression experiments at elevated temperatures with different strain rates. The uni-axial compression leads to a fibre texture, and {110}<010> texture is the major texture in extruded rods due to non-basal slip. As the extrusion temperature is elevated, the main texture becomes weak and other texture components appear. Commercial AZ31 billets were extruded to round rods at three extrusion velocities of 0.8 m / min, 1.4 m / min and 2.2 m / min, at 643 K, 673 K and 703 K, respectively. The microstructure and texture evolution at different conditions were investigated by optical microscopy (OM) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) techniques. The average grain size is reduced significantly after the hot extrusion, and the microstructure is obviously inhomogeneous due to dynamic recrystallization, which is confirmed by uni-axial compression experiments at an elevated temperature The uni-axial compression leads to a fiber texture, and {110} <010> texture is the major texture in extruded rods due to non-basal slip. As the extrusion temperature is elevated, the main texture becomes weak and other texture components appear.