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Porous ceramics of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) were prepared by sintering powder compacts consisting of PZT and stearic acid powders in an air atmosphere; stearic acid was added as a pore‐forming agent (PFA). The dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric properties of uniformly porous PZT ceramics were investigated as a function of the porosity volume fraction. Furthermore, a beam‐shaped PZT actuator sample with a graded porosity content across its thickness was fabricated by sintering PFA‐graded powder compacts. The electric‐field‐induced bending displacement characteristics of the actuator samples were measured by using strain gauges and were found to be in good agreement with the theoretical predication based on a classical lamination theory.