Process for producing fluoroalcohol

A process for producing a fluoroalcohol represented by the general formula (1) from methanol and tetrafluoroethylene or the like as starting materials in the presence of a free-radical generator and an acid acceptor, characterized by comprising the steps of: (i) reacting methanol with tetrafluoroethylene or the like; (ii) removing both a product of the reaction of the acid acceptor and the acid acceptor remaining unreacted from the crude reaction product obtained; (iii) introducing the crude reaction product treated in the step (ii) into a distillation column to distill off the methanol through the column top together with the free-radical generator remaining in the crude reaction product and take out a bottom containing the fluoroalcohol represented by the general formula (1) through the column bottom; (iv) returning the distillate obtained through the column top to the reactor to reuse it; and (v) purifying the bottom to recover the fluoroalcohol represented by the general formula (1).