  We propose a novel realisation of leptogenesis that relies on the
out-of-equilibrium decay of an axion-like particle (ALP) into right-handed
Majorana neutrinos (RHNs) in the early Universe. With respect to standard
thermal leptogenesis, our mechanism lowers by two orders of magnitude the RHN
mass, or the tuning in the RHN mass splittings, needed to reproduce the baryon
asymmetry of the Universe and neutrino masses. We find that ALP leptogenesis
requires $m_a > 10^{4}$ GeV and $f_a > 10^{11}$ GeV for the ALP mass and decay
constant, and predicts an early period of matter domination induced by the ALP
in parts of its parameter space. We finally provide a viable supersymmetric
realisation of ALP leptogenesis where the ALP is the $R$-axion, which
accommodates GeV gravitino dark matter and predicts RHN below 10 TeV.
