The purpose of the present invention is to provide a particulate water absorbing agent having both a high water absorption multiplying factor and a high water absorption rate and a method for manufacturing the same. The present invention is a particulate water absorbing agent for which CRC is 30 to 50 g/g, wherein the weight average particulate diameter (D50) is 200-600 μm, and the DRC index given by the following formula is a specific value (for example, 43, 30, or 20) or less: DRC index=(49−DRC5min [g/g])/(D50 [μm]/1000).