Here’s A Comprehensive List Of The 5 Most Popular K-Pop Leaders Each Year Over The Last Decade

Only 2 leaders stayed in the top 5 for the entire decade.

Over time, certain K-Pop idols tend to come and go in terms of greatest popularity. While some of them do stand the test of time and remain talked about for many years, oftentimes newer and younger artists tend to take the biggest spotlight in the industry. K-Pop leaders are no exception to these patterns, and thanks to Google Analytics, it’s possible to see the rise and fall of the popularity of idols based on how often they’re searched.

These are the top 5 most popular K-Pop leaders of each year from 2011 until now, based on the points determined by the data collected through these analytics! At the very end, the search data for all 10 of the leaders on this list are compiled for the whole decade as well.

2011

5. Yunho (TVXQ): 13 points

4. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 24.9 points

3. CL (former 2NE1): 26.1 points

2. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 32.9 points

1. Leeteuk (Super Junior): 44 points

2012

5. Yunho (TVXQ): 13 points

4. Leeteuk (Super Junior): 17 points

3. CL (former 2NE1): 23 points

2. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 35 points

1. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 60.2 points

2013

5. Suho (EXO): 14 points

4. CL (former 2NE1): 25 points

3. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 33 points

2. Leeteuk (Super Junior): 49.3 points

1. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 68.2 points

2014

5. Leeteuk (Super Junior): 7.1 points

4. Suho (EXO): 10 points

3. CL (former 2NE1): 24.1 points

2. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 30 points

1. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 45.4 points

2015

5. Suho (EXO): 12 points

4. RM (BTS): 13 points

3. CL (former 2NE1): 30.4 points

2. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 48.1 points

1. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 50.1 points

2016

5. JB (GOT7): 12 points

4. Suho (EXO): 13 points

3. RM (BTS): 23 points

2. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 32.2 points

1. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 58 points

2017

5. Jihyo (TWICE): 11 points

4. Suho (EXO): 12 points

3. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 25.7 points

2. RM (BTS): 38.2 points

1. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 44 points

2018

5. Suho (EXO): 11.9 points

4. Jihyo (TWICE): 12.1 points

3. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 16 points

2. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 24 points

1. RM (BTS): 39 points

2019

5. Suho (EXO): 11 points

4. Jihyo (TWICE): 16 points

3. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 22 points

2. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 24 points

1. RM (BTS): 35 points

2020

5. Taeyong (NCT): 16 points

4. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 18 points

3. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 21 points

2. Suho (EXO): 22.9 points

1. RM (BTS): 49 points

2021

5. Jihyo (TWICE): 14 points

4. G-Dragon (BIGBANG): 16 points

3. Taeyeon (Girls’ Generation): 19 points

2. Suho (EXO): 20 points

1. RM (BTS): 45 points

Overall: