An image processing apparatus is operable to determine a focus target area of an image capturing apparatus. The apparatus comprises: an obtainment unit configured to obtain a first area to be a focus target in a first image captured by the image capturing apparatus at a first point in time, a detection unit configured to detect a second area to be a focus target candidate from a second image captured by the image capturing apparatus at a second point in time succeeding a first point in time; and a determination unit configured to determine, based on the first area and the second image, a focus target area in the second image from among one or more partial areas in the second area.