This month’s most popular K-pop idols are out! Jimin topped the individual K-pop idol brand reputation rankings in January 2026. V surprised everyone with a staggering 157% surge. BLACKPINK’s Jennie, IVE’s Jang Won-Young, and BTS’s Jungkook complete the top five. Explore our full top 100 individual K-pop idol rankings to see who else won hearts this month.
January 2026 TOP 100 Individual K-pop Idol Brand Reputation Rankings
The Korean Business Research Institute measured K-pop idol popularity using large-scale data. They tracked 1,730 idols from December 22, 2025, to January 22, 2026, collecting 160,367,806 data points. They determined the rankings by measuring four main areas: fan engagement, media coverage, online interactions, and community discussions. These numbers show each idol’s influence in the K-pop world. January’s data points show a 4.05% increase from December’s 154,132,208, indicating a busier month than December. This meant more fans participated, more media stories appeared, and more active online and community discussions.
TOP 5 K-Pop Idols
1. BTS’s JIMIN
Jimin remained at the top with a brand reputation index of 8,780,962, a 26.20% increase from December. Fans are talking about him everywhere. His Community Awareness Index reached 4,471,812, showing strong support from ARMY.
His popular search terms included “ARMY,” “MUSE,” and “Who.” Words like “romantic,” “long-running,” and “return” show how much fans relate to the group’s reunion.
Yet his solo career is the primary driver of his success. He’s the first solo K-pop artist to surpass 6.5 billion Spotify streams. His album “MUSE” reached 3.7 billion plays, the fastest accumulation for any Korean album.
Jimin’s solo hit “Like Crazy” debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 1.5 billion streams, while the follow-up “WHO” achieved 2.25 billion streams (450 million from the U.S. alone) and charted for 33 consecutive weeks.
In positivity and negativity analysis, he earned a 92.86% positivity score, showing that fans absolutely adore him. Jimin dominates both the group and solo rankings, proving he’s the most popular idol right now.
2. BLACKPINK’s JENNIE
BLACKPINK’s Jennie climbed to second place. Her brand reputation index jumped 52.44%, climbing from 5,256,375 in December to 8,012,724 in January. What drove this growth?
Her 30th birthday celebration and first solo photo exhibition, “J2NNI5” (January 16-29, 2026), received a warm response from fans. Additionally, her Chanel collaboration and return to television added excitement to her fans.
Jennie’s success through art or personal milestones builds connection, showing her power as a star.
3. IVE’s JANG WON YOUNG
Jang Won Young from IVE held onto third place with steady growth. Her popularity score rose 25.83%, from 6 million in December to 7.7 million in January.
The growth came from the “FOREVER:CHERRY” trademark announcement. Its Instagram account, which launched on January 10, quickly gained over 150,000 followers, showing genuine fan interest.
Her Media Coverage Index (825,262) and Engagement Index (750,356) are the highest among the top five idols. This shows organic appeal rather than hype.
4. BTS’s JUNGKOOK
Jungkook landed in fourth place with a 7,6 million index, a 19.58% increase from December’s 6,4 million, showing steady growth in his community’s strength. His Community Index achieved 4,479,537, the highest among the top five, showing ARMY’s devotion.
He owns streaming platforms. His hit “Seven” (feat. Latto) hit 2.76 billion Spotify plays. Even crazier? It hit 1 billion streams in 108 days, faster than Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers.” On YouTube, he made a record as the first Asian artist to have six songs hit over 100 million plays. His total streams across all songs? 9.4 billion. His debut album GOLDEN alone has 6.2 billion Spotify plays—breaking the record for most-streamed solo Asian album ever.
5. BTS’s V
V stunned everyone with dramatic growth, a 157.08% increase from December’s 2,628,446 to 6,757,299, driven by his “TYPE 非” photobook and exhibition (January 20–February 1, 2026). His Interaction Index (2,936,349) drove major community engagement.
The 278-page project, with 20 conceptual chapters on “non-fixity,” ranked #1 on ticketing sites. Strategic artistic announcements, as V’s TYPE 非 project demonstrates, can elevate underexposed artists, V’s transformation shows that highly personal, ambitious creative projects, when executed well, generate momentum and social significance.
TOP 100
- BTS Jimin
- BLACKPINK Jennie
- IVE Jang Won Young
- BTS Jungkook
- BTS V
- BTS Jin
- aespa Winter
- BLACKPINK Rosé
- BLACKPINK Jisoo
- BLACKPINK Lisa
- aespa Karina
- IVE An Yu Jin
- BIGBANG G-Dragon
- BTS J-Hope
- Girls’ Generation Yoona
- Red Velvet Yeri
- Girls’ Generation Taeyeon
- EXO Baekhyun
- Red Velvet Joy
- Girls’ Generation Sooyoung
- IVE Rei
- ASTRO Cha Eun Woo
- Red Velvet Seulgi
- TWICE Nayeon
- Red Velvet Wendy
- TWICE Momo
- SEVENTEEN Hoshi
- TWICE Sana
- IVE Gaeul
- BTS Suga
- Oh My Girl YooA
- IVE Liz
- SEVENTEEN Mingyu
- Super Junior Kyuhyun
- APINK Jung Eun Ji
- SHINee Minho
- BTS RM
- Wanna One and NU’EST Hwang Minhyun
- Cignature Jee Won
- APINK Kim Nam Joo
- Oh My Girl Mimi
- IVE Leeseo
- APINK Yoon Bomi
- TWICE Jihyo
- EXO Kai
- TWICE Dahyun
- EXO Sehun
- TWICE Mina
- TVXQ Yunho
- SHINee Taemin
- BIGBANG Daesung
- fromis_9 Lee Chae Young
- SEVENTEEN Woozi
- LE SSERAFIM Kim Chaewon
- RIIZE Wonbin
- Wanna One Kang Daniel
- THE BOYZ Juyeon
- Super Junior Heechul
- EXO Suho
- TWICE Chaeyoung
- TWICE Jeongnyeon
- Wanna One Park Ji Hoon
- LE SSERAFIM Kazuha
- EXO D.O.
- LEE SERAFIM Huh Yun Jin
- EXO Chanyeol
- fromis_9 Baek Ji Heon
- fromis_9 Song Ha Young
- fromis_9 Park Ji Won
- NMIXX Sullyoon
- MAMAMOO Hwasa
- SHINee Onew
- aespa Giselle
- aespa Ningning
- Wanna One Kim Jaehwan
- LE SSERAFIM Sakura
- NCT Mark
- TVXQ Changmin
- NCT Taeil
- EXO Lay
- Wanna One Ha Sung Woon
- WINNER Kang Seung Yoon
- Wanna One Ong Seong Wu
- NCT Doyoung
- ENHYPEN Sunghoon
- ILLIT Wonhee
- Wanna One Yoon Ji Sung
- ILLIT Minju
- ATEEZ SAN
- Highlight Yoon Doojoon
- Shinhwa Lee Min Woo
- FT Island Lee Jae Jin
- TWS Dohoon
- ITZY Yuna
- ILLIT Yunah
- ILLIT Moka
- CORTIS Keonho
- TWS Shinyu
- WINNER Kim Jinwoo
- TREASURE Bang Ye Dam
What’s your take? Do you think Jimin deserves the top spot, or should Jennie or another idol be leading the rankings? Share your opinion in the comments below. We want to hear which K-pop star YOU think has the strongest brand reputation right now.
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