The Men's 56 kilograms weightlifting event at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held in ExCeL London on 29 July.

In case of a tie, the lighter lifter won; if still tied, the lifter who took the fewest attempts to achieve the total score won.

Lifters without a valid snatch score did not perform the clean and jerk.

[2] On 22 December 2018, it was announced that Azerbaijan's Valentin Hristov, London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

[3] In March 2019, Hristov was disqualified after the re-analysis of his samples were positive for oralturinabol.