A positive electrode active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery contains lithium nickel cobalt zinc composite oxide represented by general formula (1): LiwNi1-x-y-zCoxZnyMzO2(0.95≤w≤1.10, 0.05≤x≤0.3, 0.005≤y≤0.08, and 0≤z≤0.3, where M is at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Mg, Al, Ti, Mn, Fe, and Cu), wherein the lithium nickel cobalt zinc composite oxide has a form of secondary particles each corresponding to an aggregation of primary particles of hexagonal lithium-containing composite oxide with a layered structure, contains zinc oxide on at least a part of a surface of the primary particles and/or a surface of the secondary particles, and has a (003)-plane crystallite diameter of 100 nm or larger and 160 nm or smaller, the diameter being obtained by X-ray diffraction and the Scherrer equation.