A conductive paste includes a metal powder, a glass frit containing a Si component, and an organic vehicle. The metal powder has a flat shape with a ratio a/b of a maximum length a to a maximum thickness b of 2.5 or more, a molar content of SiO2 in the glass frit is 36 to 59 percent by mole, and a volume content of the glass frit is 6 to 11 percent by volume. In external electrodes of a multilayer ceramic capacitor using this conductive paste, the molar content of SiO2 in a glass phase is 38 to 60 percent by mole, and an occupation rate of the glass phase is 30% to 60% on the area ratio, and a maximum length c of the glass phase is 5 μm or less.