An electrostatic-image developer which comprises a toner and a carrier comprising core particles coated with a coating resin, wherein the toner comprises toner particles having a volume-average particle diameter of from 3 to 9 µm and having a specific particle diameter distribution, at least 20% of the total surface area of the toner particles is covered with (a) an external additive having an average particle diameter of from 20 nm to 100 nm, and at least 40% of the total surface area of the toner particles is covered with (b) an external additive having an average particle diameter of from 7 nm to 20 nm, and wherein the core particles of the carrier are magnetic particles formed from a composition comprising 100 parts by weight of a ferrite component represented by the following formula (3):

        (M y O) 100-x (Fe 2 O 3 ) x      (3)

(wherein M is a metal atom selected from the group consisting of Li, Mg, Ca and Mn; x is from 45 to 95 mol%; and y is 1 or 2) and from 0.01 to 10 parts by weight of an oxide of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Groups IA, IIA, IIIA, IVA, VA, IIIB, IVB, and VB of the periodic table by granulating the composition and sintering the granules, and the magnetic particles have a silicon content of from 500 to 5,000 ppm. An image forming process using the developer is also disclosed.