The influence of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and corona on the surface degradation of high temperature vulcanized (HTV) silicone rubber used for outdoor insulation through measuring surface voltage decay after corona charging, surface resistivity, contact angle and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis was studied. The surface resistivity calculated by the surface voltage decay was compared with a value directly obtained from the three electrode method having the guard ring electrode. A good agreement between the two methods for surface resistivity was obtained. UV treated specimens showed the slower decrease of surface voltage decay, while the corona exposed specimens showed a dramatically faster decrease. Although both artificial treatments cause the same oxidative products, which was confirmed with XPS, we could distinguish the difference between the reactions of the two treatments by monitoring the surface voltage decay on corona-charged specimen. In addition, we could derive the specific surface states of the silicone rubber treated by accelerated artificial aging factors and the degradation process.