Disclosed herein is an organic EL element including a first electrode, a light emitting layer, a ground layer, and a light-transmitting second electrode stacked in this order over a substrate. The ground layer is light-emitting and electrically conductive, and its surface on which the second electrode is stacked has a surface roughness of 0.3 to 2.7 nm. The second electrode is a silver thin film layer formed of silver or containing silver as a main constituent.