A radio communication apparatus is disclosed that is capable of improving throughput even when accuracy of channel quality estimation is low and variation of channel quality estimation values is substantial. In this apparatus, MCS(SIR) acquisition section (201) acquires from MCS table (202) an MCS level (MCS(SIR)) corresponding to an SIR value. Comparison section (204) compares the acquired MCS level with the MCS level (MCS (p)) used in pervious control and stored in MCS (p) storage section (203). MCS determination section (205) determines an MCS level that has a predetermined level difference with respect the MCS (p) based on the comparison result. MCS determination section (205) acquires the modulation scheme and coding rate corresponding to the determined MCS level from MCS table (202) and controls rate matching section (103) and modulation section (105).