Disclosed is a process for recovering formic acid from a formate ester of a C3 to C4 alcohol. Disclosed is also a process for producing formic acid by carbonylating a C3 to C4 alcohol, hydrolyzing the formate ester of the alcohol, and recovering a formic acid product. The alcohol may be dried and returned to the reactor. The process enables a more energy efficient production of formic acid than the carbonylation of methanol to produce methyl formate.