A positive resist composition comprises: (A) a resin of which solubility in an alkali developer increases under the action of an acid, (B) a compound capable of generating an acid upon irradiation with actinic rays or radiation, (C) a resin having at least one repeating unit selected from fluorine atom-containing repeating units represented by the following formulae (1-1), (1-2) and (1-3), the resin being stable to an acid and insoluble in an alkali developer, and (D) a solvent: wherein R.sub.1 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group; R.sub.2 represents a fluoroalkyl group; R.sub.3 represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent organic group; R.sub.4 to R.sub.7 each independently represents a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, an alkyl group, a fluoroalkyl group, an alkoxy group or a fluoroalkoxy group, provided that at least one of R.sub.4 to R.sub.7 represents a fluorine atom, and R.sub.4 and R.sub.5, or R.sub.6 and R.sub.7 may combine to form a ring; R.sub.8 represents a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom or a monovalent organic group; Rf represents a fluorine atom or a fluorine atom-containing monovalent organic group; L represents a single bond or a divalent linking group; Q represents an alicyclic structure; and k represents an integer of 0 to 3.