Provided is a method for producing an organic tellurium compound that enables the production of an organic tellurium compound in high yield using metallic tellurium as a source material and produces less amount of side products. A method for producing an organic tellurium compound includes the steps of: (A) reacting metallic tellurium with a compound represented by a general formula (1) below; and (B) reacting a compound obtained by the step (A) with an organic halogen compound, the metallic tellurium having a copper content of less than 100 ppm, M(R1)m   Formula (1) where R1 represents an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, an aryl group or an aromatic heterocyclic group, M represents an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal, m represents 1 when M is an alkali metal, and m represents 2 when M is an alkaline earth metal.