‘No.1 in 75 Countries’ BTS V Tops Google Trends as K-Pop Star in First Half of 2025

‘No.1 in 75 Countries’ BTS V Tops Google Trends as K-Pop Star in First Half of 2025

BTS’s V has once again proven his global popularity, topping Google Trends as the most searched K-Pop star in the first half of 2025.

According to Google Trends, V recorded the highest search volume among K-Pop artists from January to June 2025. Google Trends, an objective indicator of popularity based on big data, is also utilized in presidential elections. V topped the charts in 75 out of 81 countries where Google Trends data is collected, including South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, and India.

From BTS’s debut on June 13, 2013, to the present (June 30, 2025), V has consistently recorded the highest search volume on Google, solidifying his position as a leading figure in K-Pop. Notably, he ranked as the most searched star across all of Asia in 2021, 2022, and 2024. Even during 2024, while fulfilling his mandatory military service with limited public activity, he ranked 4th among the most searched male pop stars worldwide, following Drake, Eminem, and Justin Bieber.

V’s discharge from the military on June 10th garnered global attention. Over 1,000 media outlets worldwide reported on his discharge, and he topped Google Trends as the most searched person globally, demonstrating the overwhelming interest in his return.

On X (formerly Twitter), hashtags related to his discharge dominated the trending charts, with ‘WelcomeBackTaehyung’ ranking 1st and other related hashtags filling the top 12 spots. In China, a related hashtag topped the Weibo trend charts.

On Instagram, his follower count increased by 300,000 within just one day of his discharge. Currently, V has 67.99 million Instagram followers, surpassing 60 million followers in just 1 year and 6 months since creating his account. This is the fastest time to reach 60 million followers on Instagram globally, surpassing the previous record of 3 years and 4 months by more than double.

Immediately after his discharge, V’s star power and buzz generated explosive attention. He drew attention by wearing a Cartier watch, for which he serves as a global ambassador, during his discharge. The watch, priced at over 20 million won, sold out in real-time. Since then, items worn by V, including clothing, accessories, and headsets, have been consistently selling out. This demonstrates his star power and loyal fandom, delivering concrete results as a brand ambassador.

Currently, V ranks among the top 5 most visited websites globally (across all industries) on Google, Wikipedia, and Instagram, achieving the highest ranking among Asian stars on these platforms.

Written by Mun Wan Sik

Translated by Lee So Yun