A pneumatic tire comprising a tread portion 1, a pair of sidewall portions 2, a pair of bead portions 3, a carcass 5 comprised of at least one carcass ply having a main body portion toroidally extending between bead cores 4 each embedded in the respective bead portion 3 and a turnup portion 5b wound around the bead core 4 from inside to outside in a widthwise direction of the tire and a side rubber 9 arranged outside of the carcass in the widthwise direction, characterized in that a thin-walled recess 10 is formed inward from a tire maximum width position W in the radial direction and outward from a radially outer end of the turnup portion of the carcass at a posture of mounting the tire on an approved rim so that a minimum size t of rubber gauge in the side rubber as measured in a normal direction drawn from the outermost carcass ply is within a range of 2.5-4.5 mm.