A method for manufacturing an R-T-B system rare earth permanent magnet that is a sintered body comprising a main phase consisting of an R.sub.2T.sub.14B phase (wherein R represents one or more rare earth elements (providing that the rare earth elements include Y), and T represents one or more transition metal elements essentially containing Fe, or Fe and Co), and a grain boundary phase containing a higher amount of R than the above main phase, wherein a product that is rich in Zr exists in the above R.sub.2T.sub.14B phase, the above manufacturing method comprising the steps of: preparing an R-T-B alloy containing as a main component the R.sub.2T.sub.14B phase and also containing Zr, and an R-T alloy containing R and T as main components, wherein the amount of R is higher than that of the above R-T-B alloy; obtaining a mixture of the R-T-B alloy powder and the R-T alloy powder; preparing a compacted body with a certain form from the above mixture; and sintering the above compacted body, wherein, in the above sintering step, the above product is generated in the above R.sub.2T.sub.14B phase.