PURPOSE: To obtain a thermal transfer recording medium with little staining of a base, excellent transfer properties and a stable transferred image and with which high speed transfer is made possible by making a coloring agent in a hot-melt ink layer to be a pigment coated with a lubricating agent in a thermal transfer recording medium wherein the hot-melt ink layer is provided on a supporting body.

CONSTITUTION: In a thermal transfer recording medium wherein a hot-melt ink layer is provided on a supporting body such as a polyester film, a coloring agent in the hot melt ink layer is made of a pigment (e.g. red oxide) coated with a lubricating agent (e.g. carnauva wax). As the result, it is possible to obtain a thermal transfer recording medium with little staining of a base, excellent transfer properties and a stable transferred image and with which high speed transfer is made possible.