The vortex partition function in 2d N = (2, 2) U(N) gauge theory is derived from the field theoretical point of view by using the moduli matrix approach. The character for the tangent space at each moduli space fixed point is written in terms of the moduli matrix, and then the vortex partition function is obtained by applying the localization formula. We find that dealing with the fermionic zero modes is crucial to obtain the vortex partition function with the anti-fundamental and adjoint matters in addition to the fundamental chiral multiplets. The orbifold vortex partition function is also investigated from the field theoretical point of view.