Provided is a magnetic recording medium capable of achieving high reproduction output in a short wavelength region. The magnetic recording medium comprises a nonmagnetic layer comprising a nonmagnetic powder and a binder and a magnetic layer comprising a ferromagnetic powder and a binder in this order on a nonmagnetic support. The magnetic layer has a squareness ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 in a perpendicular direction, and the magnetic recording medium is employed for recording a magnetic signal on the medium in a longitudinal direction at a linear recording density of equal to or greater than 300 Kbpi using a recording head with a gap length of equal to or less than 0.3 micrometer, and reproducing the magnetic signal using a magnetoresistive head with a shield spacing of equal to or less than 0.2 micrometer.