A developing method including forming a magnetic brush of a two component developer comprising a toner and a magnetic carrier; and developing an electrostatic latent image with the magnetic brush, wherein the ratio (A.sub.nc/A.sub.t) of the area (A.sub.nc) of the carrier-noncontact portion to the area of the development portion in which the electrostatic latent image can be developed by the magnetic brush is from 0.30 to 0.70, and the ratio (Avc/vs) of the average moving velocity (Avc) of carrier particles contacting the image bearing member to the moving velocity (vs) of the surface of the developer bearing member is from 0.8 to 1.1. Alternatively, it is possible that the ratio (A.sub.nc/A.sub.t) is not greater than 0.50 and the ratio (Avc/vs) is from 0.3 to 1.1.