Disclosed here is a perpendicular magnetic recording medium for realizing a high media S/N value without degrading the magnetic isolation of crystal grains from each another. The perpendicular magnetic recording medium comprises a substrate, a soft magnetic underlayer formed on the substrate, an intermediate layer formed on the soft magnetic underlayer, and a magnetic recording layer formed on the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer consists of at least two or more layers and contains Ru or an Ru alloy and the magnetic recording layer is made of a material containing a CoCrPt alloy and oxygen. The crystallo graphic orientation of the recording layer can be improved enough without increasing the crystal grain size if a full width at half-maximum Δθ50 of the Rocking curves of the Ru (0002) diffraction peak measured by an X-ray diffraction method is 5° and under.