To provide an exhaust gas cleaning catalyst early ingiting at a low temperature period.

The exhaust gas cleaning catalyst 9 includes: a carrier 1 having through-holes 3 axially penetrating; and catalyst-coated layers 11, 13, 15 which contain (a) Rh, (b) Pt and/or Pd, (c) a fire resistant inorganic oxide and are formed on the inner faces of the through-holes 3, wherein exhaust gas passages are formed by the through-holes 3, and a region A with the weight of the component (b) in the catalyst-coated layers larger than that of the component (a), a region B with the weight ratio of the component (a) to the component (b) in the catalyst-coated layers of 1:0-1.0, and a region C with the weight of the component (b) in the catalyst-coated layers larger than that of the component (a), are included in this order from upstream in relation to the flow direction of the exhaust gas. Among the flow passages, the volume of a part belonging to the region A is 6-40 vol.% of the total volume, and 30-80 wt.% of the total amount of the component (b) is contained in the catalyst-coated layers formed in the region A.

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