Although there has been a method for evaluating pattern shapes of electronic devices by using, as a reference pattern, design data or a non-defective pattern, the conventional method has a problem that the pattern shape cannot be evaluated with high accuracy because of the difficulty in defining an exact shape suitable for the manufacturing conditions of the electronic devices. The present invention provides a shape evaluation method for circuit patterns of electronic devices, the method including a means for generating contour distribution data of at least two circuit patterns from contour data sets on the circuit patterns; a means for generating a reference pattern used for the pattern shape evaluation, from the contour distribution data; and a means for evaluating the pattern shape by comparing each evaluation target pattern with the reference pattern.