A pneumatic tire includes a tread portion provided in a tread face thereof with tread elements each provided with at least one zigzag sipe, a cap tread rubber defining the tread face, and a base tread rubber disposed radially inside the cap tread rubber, wherein the zigzag sipe comprises zigzag segments which are alternating circumferentially-oriented segments and an amplitude center line of zigzag of the zigzag sipe is inclined at an angle (theta) of from 0 to 45 degrees with respect to the tire circumferential direction, and the zigzag sipe has a bottom including alternating deep parts and shallow parts in comparison with the level of the boundary between the cap tread rubber and base tread rubber.