The magnetic recording medium has a non-magnetic support and a magnetic layer which is provided on the support and contains ferromagnetic powder and a binder, in which the ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder, the magnetic layer contains an abrasive, an intensity ratio (Int (110)/Int (114)) of a peak intensity Int (110) of a diffraction peak of (110) plane of a crystal structure of the hexagonal ferrite, determined by performing X-ray diffraction analysis on the magnetic layer by using an In-Plane method, to a peak intensity Int (114) of a diffraction peak of (114) plane of the crystal structure is equal to or higher than 0.5 and equal to or lower than 4.0, and a squareness ratio in a vertical direction is equal to or higher than 0.65 and equal to or lower than 1.00. The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing the magnetic recording medium.