A catalyst for exhaust gas purification is described which includes a substrate and a catalyst coating layer provided on the substrate. The catalyst coating layer includes first and second metal oxide particles. The first metal oxide particles have a catalyst metal supported thereon, and the second metal oxide particles do not have a catalyst metal supported thereon. The first and second metal oxide particles have a specific particle size. This is because, when the sizes of the particles supporting the catalyst metal remain relatively large but the sizes of the particles not supporting a catalyst metal are minimized, it is possible to decrease the thickness of the catalyst coating layer while maintaining durability and improving gas diffusibility of the coating layer. Therefore, a thickness of the catalyst coating is decreased without decreasing durability, and the catalyst can exhibit high exhaust gas purification performance even under high load conditions.