A high-strengih Mg-Zn-Y alloy was developed, with increased ductility and a multimodal microstructure. The microstructure of the extruded Mg-Zn-Y alloy consisted of three regions: a dynamically recrystallized α-Mg fine-grain region with random orientation, a hot-worked α-Mg coarse-grain region with strong basal texture, and a long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phase region with kink deformation bands. An increase in dynamically recrystallized α-Mg grains having random crystallographic orientation improved ductility; the effective dispersion of the hot-worked α-Mg grains with a strong basal texture and a kink-deformed LPSO phase brought about strengthening of the alloy.