The present invention relates to an exposure method of a multi-beam type in which a stage mounting a sample to be exposed is continuously moved in a first direction, and charged-particle beams are controlled so as to form a desired beam shape as a whole, and in which a pattern is formed on the sample by deflecting the charged-particle beams by a main deflector and a sub deflector. Patterns to be drawn are divided into pattern data on a cell stripe basis which corresponds to an area which can be exposed when the sub deflector scans the charged-particle beams one time. The pattern data on the cell stripe basis is stored into a memory. Then, position data indicative of cell stripes is stored, in an exposure sequence, together with address information concerning the memory in which the pattern data is stored. The deflection amount data relating to the main deflector and the sub deflector is calculated from the position data. Patterns are drawn on the wafer by using the pattern data and the deflection amount data.