A cyclone type air cleaner has a cylindrical housing having a tangential air inlet formed in the peripheral wall of the housing and an air outlet formed in the upper end wall thereof. A downwardly converging frusto-conical member having a central opening is disposed in the housing coaxially therewith to divide the interior of the housing into a first or upper swirling chamber and a lower space in which a cylindrical or annular member is disposed coaxially with the central opening to define therein a second or lower swirling chamber communicated with the upper swirling chamber through the central opening. The cylindrical or annular member cooperates with the housing peripheral wall to define a dust-collecting chamber communicated with the lower swirling chamber through an annular gap defined between the frusto-conical member and the cylindrical or annular member. An axial flow type filter element is disposed between the upper swirling chamber and the air outlet.