use XML::Simple; use Data::Dumper; my $hash= { 'root' => { 'item1' => { 'item1a' => 'n1', 'item1b'=>'jh' } } }; my $xs = new XML::Simple( ); my $xml = $xs->XMLout($hash, NoAttr => 1, RootName=>undef, KeyAttr=>{Item1=>'name'} ); print Dumper $xml;