An exhaust gas purifying catalyst (10) according to the present invention is an exhaust gas purifying catalyst including the first catalyst layer (12). The first catalyst layer (12) includes the first section (14) and the second section (15) in the exhaust gas flow direction. The first section (14) is located on the upstream side in the exhaust gas flow direction relative to the second section (15). A catalyst layer (16) contains a catalytically active component including a specific element. The concentration of the specific element in the catalyst layer (12) is higher in the first section (14) than in the second section (15), in terms of mass per unit volume. When the first section is divided in half along the thickness direction of the first catalyst layer (12), the ratio of a1 to a2, a1/a2, is 1.1 or more, where a1 represents the mass of the specific element that is present on the surface side of the catalyst layer (12) and a2 represents the mass of the specific element that is present on the other side than the surface side of the catalyst layer.