Objective Volatile organic compounds VOCs have adverse effects on both human health and the ecological environment thus attracting widespread attention from researchers. Catalytic combustion is one of the effective technologies for treating VOCs with the advantages of high removal efficiency and no secondary pollution. Rare earth elements such as Ce and La and their oxides often play an important role in catalytic combustion due to their special physicochemical properties as catalytic additives or carriers. Therefore for rare earth catalysts mainly Ce and La their applications in the propane catalytic combustion and the corresponding catalytic reaction mechanisms as well as future development directions were reviewed. Methods Through a review of the research and applications of Ce-based and Labased catalysts in the propane catalytic combustion the reaction mechanisms and development directions of rare earth catalysts were analyzed. Results Firstly Ce La and their oxides modulated the physical properties of the catalyst such as the overall structure morphology and specific surface area. Meanwhile these substances also interacted with other metals within the catalyst to effectively modulate the oxygen vacancy density in the material ultimately enhancing the reactivity for the propane catalytic combustion. Secondly when CeO2 acted as a carrier it was capable of producing metal-CeO2 interactions with the active metal dependent on the CeO2 morphology and crystallographic surface which can have a great impact on the structure and performance of the catalyst. Studies on the application of La-based chalcogenide catalysts obtained by optimizing synthesis methods and surface modification in the propane catalytic combustion were also discussed. Conclusion At present the exploration of the catalytic mechanism of rare earth-based catalysts is still in its initial stage and in-depth and systematic research should be conducted to realize its industrial application as early as possible.