A face feature extraction apparatus and method are provided. The face feature extraction apparatus for used in a two-dimensional (2D) face identification system includes: a local base vector generator generating a plurality of local base vectors to extract features of portions of a face from input 2D face image data of users; a local base vector selector selecting a predetermined number of local base vectors suitable for the face identification from the plurality of local base vectors generated by the local base vector generator; and a local base vector overlapper overlapping the local base vectors selected by the local base vector selector and generating a smaller number of overlapped local base vectors than the selected local base vectors. Thus, 2D face identification system having high face identification rate can be provided.