Disclosed is a motion estimation apparatus and method capable of reduce a memory bandwidth by accessing reference image data occupying the largest part of the memory bandwidth based on a result of motion estimation skip determination. The motion estimation apparatus includes a motion estimation skip determination unit, a sum absolute of absolute difference (SAD) processing unit and a multiplexer (MUX) unit. The motion estimation skip determination unit determines the presence of motion estimation skip by reading current image data and skip reference image data, and outputs a motion vector in a skip mode. The SAD processing unit calculates an SAD value by reading the current image data and reference image data and outputs a motion vector in a normal mode. The MUX unit outputs the motion vector in the skip mode or the motion vector in the normal mode as a final motion vector based on a skip flag signal.