Production of abrasive material and polishing method

Disclosed are polishing material particles which have polishing performance suitable for precision polishing and also have a high polishing speed and high monodispersibility; a polishing material containing the polishing material particles; and a polishing processing method using the polishing material. The polishing material particles are spherical particles having an average aspect ratio of 1.00 to 1.15, wherein the particle diameter (D50 (nm)) of the polishing material particles as determined from a particle diameter cumulative distribution curve falls within the range from 50 to 1500 nm. The average content of cerium or the total content of cerium and at least one element selected from lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm) and europium (Eu) in the polishing material particles is 81 mol % or more relative to the total content of all of rare earth elements that constitute the polishing material particles.