A motion vector predictive encoding method in a moving picture encoding scheme in which a picture to be encoded is divided into a plurality of blocks and encoding is performed using motion compensation for each of the blocks, the method comprising: a step of performing a motion search for a block to be encoded in the picture to be encoded using an encoded reference picture to calculate a motion vector; a step of extracting N, N is an integer equal to or more than 2, motion vectors from the picture to be encoded, the N motion vectors including motion vectors of encoded blocks around the block to be encoded as primary candidate reference motion vectors; a step of calculating a degree of reliability of each of the primary candidate reference motion vectors which quantitatively represent effectiveness in motion vector prediction of the block to be encoded, using a set of encoded pixels adjacent to the block to be encoded as a template, an area obtained by shifting an area of the template by a primary candidate reference motion vector on the reference picture is set as an area to be matched, and a degree of similarity between the set of the encoded pixels of the template and a set of pixels in the area to be matched is calculated as the degree of the reliability; and a step of selecting top M, M is a predetermined integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, primary candidate reference motion vectors with highest degrees of reliability from the primary candidate reference motion vectors as secondary candidate reference motion vectors, characterized by further comprising a step of setting a secondary candidate reference motion vector nearest the motion vector obtained by the motion search among the secondary candidate reference motion vectors as a predictive motion vector of the block to be encoded, encoding an identifier of the set secondary candidate reference motion vector, and encoding a residual between the motion vector obtained through the motion search of the block to be encoded and the predictive motion vector as encoded information of the motion vector, wherein, in the step of extracting the primary candidate reference motion vectors, additional motion vectors which designate positions set as a range ±1 in horizontal and vertical directions with respect to a position designated by each of the motion vectors of the encoded blocks, are included in the primary candidate reference motion vectors in addition to the N motion vectors of the encoded blocks so as to be extracted as the primary candidate reference motion vectors. a step of performing a motion search for a block to be encoded in the picture to be encoded using an encoded reference picture to calculate a motion vector; a step of extracting N, N is an integer equal to or more than 2, motion vectors from the picture to be encoded, the N motion vectors including motion vectors of encoded blocks around the block to be encoded as primary candidate reference motion vectors; a step of calculating a degree of reliability of each of the primary candidate reference motion vectors which quantitatively represent effectiveness in motion vector prediction of the block to be encoded, using a set of encoded pixels adjacent to the block to be encoded as a template, an area obtained by shifting an area of the template by a primary candidate reference motion vector on the reference picture is set as an area to be matched, and a degree of similarity between the set of the encoded pixels of the template and a set of pixels in the area to be matched is calculated as the degree of the reliability; and a step of selecting top M, M is a predetermined integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, primary candidate reference motion vectors with highest degrees of reliability from the primary candidate reference motion vectors as secondary candidate reference motion vectors, characterized by further comprising a step of setting a secondary candidate reference motion vector nearest the motion vector obtained by the motion search among the secondary candidate reference motion vectors as a predictive motion vector of the block to be encoded, encoding an identifier of the set secondary candidate reference motion vector, and encoding a residual between the motion vector obtained through the motion search of the block to be encoded and the predictive motion vector as encoded information of the motion vector, wherein, in the step of extracting the primary candidate reference motion vectors, additional motion vectors which designate positions set as a range ±1 in horizontal and vertical directions with respect to a position designated by each of the motion vectors of the encoded blocks, are included in the primary candidate reference motion vectors in addition to the N motion vectors of the encoded blocks so as to be extracted as the primary candidate reference motion vectors.