A magnetic recording medium comprising a support having provided thereon a magnetic layer, wherein a smooth coating layer having a thickness of from 0.10 to 1 .mu.m, surface roughness of 5 nm or less, and 20 or less per 900 .mu.m.sup.2 of the protrusions having a height of 20 nm or more measured by an interatomic force microscope (AFM) is provided on the surface of at least one side of the support. And a method for producing a magnetic recording medium comprising a support having provided thereon a magnetic layer, which comprises providing a smooth coating layer having a thickness of from 0.10 to 1 .mu.m, surface roughness of 5 nm or less, and 20 or less per 900 .mu.m.sup.2 of the protrusions having a height of 20 nm or more measured by an interatomic force microscope (AFM) on the surface of at least one side of the support, and forming at least the magnetic layer on the smooth coating layer without performing rolling-up operation.