Provided is a linear compressor including a drive unit having a mover reciprocating within a casing and a stator and a winding coil for driving the mover, a cylinder installed inside the casing to form a compression space, a piston coupled to the mover and configured to reciprocate within the cylinder to compress a fluid accommodated in the compression space, a frame supporting the cylinder and a discharge cover coupled to the frame to form a discharge space for accommodating refrigerant compressed in the compression space, a discharge pipe extending toward an outside of the discharge cover through the discharge space and forming a passage through which the compressed refrigerant moves from the discharge space, and a branch pipe branched from the discharge pipe outside the discharge cover and configured to guide the compressed refrigerant to a space between the cylinder and the piston.