A vehicle rear structure has an upper back panel, and a first closed sectional part that is coupled to a front end part of the upper back panel in a vehicle forward-rearward direction and serves as a closed sectional part having a closed section structure. The first closed sectional part is constituted of a first panel and a second panel that are panel members different from the upper back panel. The thickness of the first panel and the thickness of the second panel are larger than the thickness of the upper back panel, respectively.