Glucose decomposition kinetics in subcritical and supercritical water were studied for the temperatures 573, 623, and 673 K, pressures between 25 and 40 MPa, and residence times between 0.02 and 2 s. Glucose decomposition products were fructose, saccharinic acids, erythrose, glyceraldehyde, 1,6-anhydroglucose, dihydroxyacetone, pyruvaldehyde, and small amounts of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Fructose was also studied and found to decompose to products similar to those of glucose, except that its epimerization to glucose was negligibly low and no formation of 1,6-anhydroglucose was detected. We concluded that only the forward epimerization of glucose to fructose was important. The glucose decomposition pathway could be described in terms of a forward epimerization rate, r(gf), a fructose to decomposition products rate, r(f), and a glucose to decomposition products rate, r(g). A kinetic model based on this pathway gave good correlation of the experimental data. In the subcritical region, r(g), r(f), and r(gf) showed only small changes with pressure at a given temperature. In the supercritical region : the rate of glucose decomposition decreased with pressure at a given temperature. The reason for this decrease was mainly due to the decrease in r(gf). The pressure effect in the supercritical region shows that there is a shift among the kinetic rates, which can lead to higher selectivity for glucose. when decomposing cellulosic materials.