The magnetic recording medium includes a magnetic layer which contains ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder and a binder, in which the magnetic layer contains an abrasive and a fatty acid ester, Int (110)/Int (114) of a crystal structure of the hexagonal ferrite, determined by performing XRD analysis on the magnetic layer by using an In-Plane method, is equal to or higher than 0.5 and equal to or lower than 4.0, a squareness ratio of the magnetic recording medium in a vertical direction is equal to or higher than 0.65 and equal to or lower than 1.00, FWHMbefore and FWHMafter is greater than 0 nm and equal to or smaller than 7.0 nm, and a difference between spacings measured within a surface of the magnetic layer by an optical interference method before and after the heating in a vacuum is greater than 0 nm and equal to or smaller than 8.0 nm.