The present invention is to provide a method that can produce polyarylene sulfide having a high viscosity at a high yield. The method of producing polyarylene sulfide according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a preparation step of preparing a mixture containing an organic amide solvent, a sulfur source, a dihalo aromatic compound, and an alkali metal hydroxide; a first-stage polymerization step of initiating a polymerization reaction by heating the mixture and producing a prepolymer until a pH of a reaction system reaches a range of 10 to 11; and a second-stage polymerization step of continuing the polymerization reaction.