There is disclosed a process for efficiently producing methyl .alpha.-hydroxyisobutyrate from .alpha.-hydroxyisobutyramide and methyl formate by means of reaction distillation which comprises feeding .alpha.-hydroxyisobutyramide and an alkali metal hydroxide in a continuous distillation column to prepare therein the dehydrated condensate of .alpha.-hydroxyisobutyramide with the alkali metal hydroxide as the catalyst and reacting remaining .alpha.-hydroxyisobutyramide with methyl formate in the presence of the dehydrated condensate as the catalyst.According to the above process, the objective methyl .alpha.-hydroxyisobutyrate is continuously obtained in high yield and high selectivity without any operational trouble.