Provided is a method for producing a cyclic olefin compound, including a step of producing a cyclic olefin compound by acting a divalent nickel complex represented by General Formula (1) to decarbonylate and decarboxylate an alicyclic dicarboxylic acid anhydride, in which the divalent nickel complex includes at least one specific anionic ligand Y:

Ni(Y)m(L)n  (1)



wherein Ni is divalent nickel, Y is an anionic monodentate or polydentate ligand and has at least one Ni-E covalent bond, E is a heteroatom or a n-bonding group, m is 1 or 2, L is a neutral ligand, and n is a real number of 0 to 6.