A human detection apparatus and method using low-resolution two-dimensional (2D) light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor are provided. The human detection method may include receiving LIDAR data generated by reflecting a laser signal that continues to be transmitted to a search region from a plurality of objects in the search region, clustering a plurality of points included in the received LIDAR data by the same objects based on a correlation between the plurality of points, deriving a characteristic function used to identify a shape of a human, based on the clustered points, and determining whether each of the objects is a human based on the derived characteristic function.