A code amount control method used in a video encoding method for performing code amount control by estimating a generated code amount for an encoding target picture. The control method includes steps of computing a feature value of the encoding target picture and stores the value into a storage device; extracting a feature value of a previously-encoded picture stored in the storage device and used for generated code amount estimation; comparing the feature values of the encoding target picture and the previously-encoded picture; and a step performed according to a result of the comparison. If it is determined that difference between both feature values is larger than a predetermined criterion value, the amount of code generated for the encoding target picture is estimated using no result of encoding of the previously-encoded picture, and otherwise the relevant generated code amount is estimated based on a result of the encoding.