Fellow professionals voted for the Manchester City playmaker ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane and last year's winner Virgil van Dijk despite Liverpool finishing 18 points clear at the top.
De Bruyne, 29, also beat team-mate Raheem Sterling and becomes the first City player to win the award.
“It’s a huge honour," he said. "To be voted for by your colleagues and competitors from other teams who you play against and then for you for best player is amazing.
"It’s strange that I’m the first one at City given all the good players that have played here before and who are still playing here but it’s nice to represent the club.
"I think it is [the ultimate honour to be nominated by fellow professionals] because you compete against them, they want to win the trophies, they want to be the best.
"When they vote for you, and it’s everyone who is voting not just a few players, that means you’ve done really well during the season.”
De Bruyne, who also won the Premier League Player of the Season award, matched Arsenal legend Thierry Henry's record for most assists in a campaign with 20.
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