To obtain and understand the decomposition characteristics and decomposition process of SF 6 gas under different negative DC voltages, a physical model of the needle-plate defect is used to conduct decomposition experiments of SF 6 gas. Experimental results show that, under different negative DC voltages, the partial discharge (PD) caused by the needle-plate defect decomposes SF 6 gas and generates five stable decomposed components, namely CF 4 , CO 2 , SO 2 F 2 , SOF 2 , and SO 2 . The concentration and effective formation rates (R RMS ) of these five components can be associated with the mean discharge magnitude per second (Q sec ), and the effective concentration ratios (CR RMS ) of CF 4 /CO 2 and SO 2 F 2 /(SOF 2 + SO 2 ) correlate well with Q sec . The concentration, R RMS , and CR RMS of SF 6 decomposed components can be used as characteristic quantities of the PD strength under a negative DC voltage. Based on these characteristic quantities, we establish two evaluation tables to assess the PD magnitude under negative DC voltage. That is, the range of PD magnitude in the gas chamber can be deduced by the R RMS and CR RMS of SF 6 decomposed components. These tables provide a practical method for assessing the insulation status of the gas-insulated equipment under a negative DC voltage.