Conductivity of a negative electrode is improved in an alkaline storage battery that uses as its negative electrode a hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrode employing a hydrogen-absorbing alloy containing at least a rare-earth element, nickel, magnesium, and aluminum, to sufficiently enhance the cycle life of the alkaline storage battery. The negative electrode of the alkaline storage battery uses a hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrode employing hydrogen-absorbing alloy particles containing at least a rare-earth element, nickel, magnesium, and aluminum. A surface layer is formed on the hydrogen-absorbing alloy particles, the surface layer having a weight ratio of aluminum to nickel less than that of the interior portion of the hydrogen-absorbing alloy. The weight ratio of aluminum to nickel in the surface layer is 0.015 or less.