A magnetic recording medium is a tape-shaped magnetic recording medium, including: a substrate; an underlayer provided on the substrate; and a magnetic layer provided on the underlayer. The substrate contains polyester, each of the underlayer and the magnetic layer contains a lubricant, the magnetic layer has a surface on which a large number of holes is provided, the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the surface is 2.5 nm or less, a BET specific surface area of the entire magnetic recording medium measured in a state where the magnetic recording medium has been washed and dried is 3.5 m