A magnetic recording medium is disclosed, comprising a support having provided thereon a substantially nonmagnetic lower layer by coating a lower layer coating solution comprising a nonmagnetic powder dispersed in a binder and drying, and a layer having a thickness of from 0.01 to 0.15 μm by coating a magnetic layer coating solution comprising a ferromagnetic metal powder or a hexagonal ferrite powder dispersed in a binder, wherein the magnetic layer contains diamond particles having an average particle size of from 1/5 to 2 times the thickness of the magnetic layer in an amount of from 0.1 to 5.0 mass % based on the ferromagnetic metal powder.