Fiber structure and method for producing same

A fiber structure comprising crimped staple fibers and heat-bonding conjugate staple fibers mixed in a weight ratio of 90/10 to 10/90, the heat-bonding conjugate staple fibers having, as a heat-bonding component disposed on a surface thereof, a thermoplastic resin having a melting point lower by 40° C. or more than that of a thermoplastic resin constituting the crimped staple fibers,

• the fiber structure having scattered fixing points in which the heat-bonding conjugate staple fibers are heat-fused and intersect together and/or scattered fixing points in which the heat-bonding conjugate staple fibers and the crimped staple fibers are heat-fused and intersect together,
• the fiber structure having a thickness of 30 mm or more and a density of 10 kg/m3 or more,
• the fiber structure having a laminated structure of three or more layers in at least a thicknesswise direction, wherein a hardness ratio between an intermediate layer portion and a surface layer portion defined when the fiber structure is equally divided into three portions in the thicknesswise direction of the fiber structure is 0.60 or more.