Embodiments of this application disclose a bi-directional inter prediction method and apparatus, and relate to the field of video picture coding technologies. The method includes: determining a reference picture index i1 of a first reference picture
list as a first reference picture index that corresponds to a current block and that is of the first reference picture
list; determining a reference picture index i2 of a second reference picture
list as a second reference picture index that corresponds to the current block and that is of the second reference picture list; and predicting the current block based on the first reference picture index and the second reference picture index. A POC corresponding to the reference picture index i1 is a POC, closest to a POC of a current picture, in all POCs that are in the first reference picture list and that are less than the POC of the current picture, a POC corresponding to the reference picture index i2 is a POC, closest to the POC of the current picture, in all POCs that are in the second reference picture list and that are greater than the POC of the current picture, and the current picture includes the current block.
Bitstream resources can be saved, and coding efficiency can be improved.