The present invention provides a method that allows production of stereospecific and asymmetrical five-membered ring-containing compounds serving as synthetic intermediates for formation of five-membered rings of prostaglandins and the like, with high yield and excellent stereoselectivity in terms of diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity in a short process without requiring troublesome procedures such as optical resolution. The method for producing a five-membered ring-containing compound includes a cyclization step of condensing and cyclizing an α,β-unsaturated nitro compound represented by the following chemical formula (I) with a 1,4-butanedione compound, in the presence of a catalyst formed by a compound having a pyrrolidine ring and an optically active α-carbon relative to the nitrogen on the ring, in a water-insoluble organic solvent and/or a non-oxygen atom-containing water-soluble organic solvent so as to produce the five-membered ring-containing compound represented by the following chemical formula (II).