A thermal transfer recording material comprising a thin substrate and a thermal transfer ink layer provided on the upper side of the substrate, wherein the thin substrate is a polyethylene film having a density of 0.935 or higher, causes no sticking phenomenon in thermal transfer recording.The above thermal transfer recording material, when the polyethylene film used therein further has a weight average molecular weight of 200,000 or higher, forms no frost image and causes no sticking of the polyethylene to the surface of a thermal head of a printer.