Provided is an apparatus for recognizing an activity of daily living (ADL). The apparatus includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader for reading the information of an RFID tag to recognize a motion object, a motion detector attached on a moving subject for acquiring acceleration information and recognizing a motion characteristic, and a controller for receiving information on the motion object from the RFID reader and information on the motion characteristic from the motion detector and then recognizing an ADL.