The present invention relates to a technology for a sensor network, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and the Internet of things (IoT). The present invention can be utilized for intelligent services (smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected car, health care, digital education, retail, security and safety-related services, and the like) based on the technology. The present invention relates to an efficient image processing method and device for virtual reality content, and according to one embodiment of the present invention, the image processing method for projecting an image of virtual reality content comprises the steps of: acquiring a first planar image projected by dividing a front part and a rear part of a spherical image for expressing a 360-degree image; generating a second planar image projected by sampling the first planar image on the basis of a pixel position; and encoding the second planar image.