Using the tensor renormalization group method based on the higher-order singular value decomposition, we have studied the thermodynamic properties of the continuous XY model on the square lattice. The temperature dependence of the free energy, the internal energy, and the specific heat agree with the Monte Carlo calculations. From the field dependence of the magnetic susceptibility, we find the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature to be 0.8921(19), consistent with the Monte Carlo as well as the high temperature series expansion results. At the transition temperature, the critical exponent δ is estimated as 14.5, close to the analytic value by Kosterlitz.