The Raman piezo-spectroscopic constants of tetragonal prime yttria-stabilized zirconia under uniaxial compression have been determined. Although the Raman band at 461 cm(-1) is not the most intense, it is the most appropriate peak for stress measurement because of its large stress-induced peak shift and the minimum overlap with the other Raman peaks. The peak separation between bands at 258 and 461 cm(-1) or 258 and 638 cm(-1) can also be used to measure stress.