Exhaust gas purifying catalyst

An exhaust gas purifying catalyst comprising a substrate and a catalyst coating layer formed on the substrate, wherein

• the catalyst coating layer at least has an upper layer which contacts directly with an exhaust gas flowing into the catalyst, and a lower layer,
• the upper layer comprises a carrier and a first noble metal catalyst supported by the carrier, wherein the first noble metal catalyst contains at least Rh,
• the lower layer comprises a carrier, a second noble metal catalyst supported by the carrier, and a ceria-zirconia composite oxide having a pyrochlore ordered array structure, wherein the second noble metal catalyst contains at least Pt or Pd,
• wherein the ceria-zirconia composite oxide contains at least one additional element selected from the group consisting of praseodymium, lanthanum, and yttrium at 0.5 to 5.0 mol % in relation to the total cation amount, and the molar ratio of (cerium+additional element):(zirconium) is within the range from 43:57 to 48:52;
• and
• wherein the catalyst coating layer has:
• a portion in which the upper layer is not formed at the upstream side end of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst;
• a portion in which the lower layer is formed below the upper layer;
• and
• a portion in which the lower layer is not formed at the downstream side end of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst.