We already know what is the Best and Highest Rated K-Dramas of all time, but what about the most searched K-Dramas audiences are looking for worldwide? Netflix has been a huge game-changer in K-Drama, increasing viewership by bringing a global platform. With the shift in the industry and growing use of streaming, searches have increased, with various online publications having to adapt and include K-Drama as part of their wider coverage.
And that’s why, when Squid Game rocked the world and changed pop culture for the better, we weren’t surprised. The growing audiences outside of South Korea are one that the K-Drama industry must be proud of. So let’s look at the top 10 most searched K-dramas worldwide.
Top 10 most searched K-Dramas worldwide
Here are the latest rankings as of October 26th, 2022 (the study was conducted over the last few years by cybersecurity experts over at VPN Overview):
- Squid Game (2021): 14,720,000 searches.
- All of Us Are Dead (2022): 2,840,000 searches.
- Business Proposal (2022): 1,510,000 searches.
- True Beauty (2020): 1,470,000 searches.
- Our Beloved Summer (2021): 924,000 searches.
- Crash Landing on You (2019): 884,000 searches.
- Hellbound (2021): 879,000 searches.
- Itaewon Class (2020): 680,00 searches.
- Love Alarm (2019): 592,00 searches.
- Hospital Playlist (2020): 562,000.
Observations
Here are the observations made, courtesy of the team over at VPN Overview:
Squid Game is the most searched South Korean drama worldwide, a new study has revealed.
The study analyzed a list of the most popular Korean dramas of the last few years, both available on Netflix and other platforms, to discover which one is the most searched worldwide.
Squid Game, released on Netflix on September 17th, 2021, takes first place with almost 15 million average monthly searches, seven times the second on the list. A worldwide success, the first season of Squid Game received a whopping 1.65 billion hours of viewing only in the first month after its release, according to the streaming platform, which is the equivalent of 182,000 years.
The survival drama follows the story of a group of 456 people, all in deep financial hardship, who are invited to play a series of deadly children’s games for the chance to win a large sum of money.
Second on the list is All of Us Are Dead, with almost three million average monthly searches. The series revolves around a group of high schoolers who have to fight a zombie apocalypse that breaks out unexpectedly and is based on a Naver webtoon of the same name. All of Us Are Dead was released on January 28th, 2022, and it has been renewed for a second season.
Business Proposal comes in third with 1,510,000 average monthly searches. First of many romance dramas on the list, Business Proposal tells the story of an employee who accepts to go on a blind date instead of her friend but finds out that the date is actually her boss. It aired on February 28th, 2022, on SBS and is also available on Netflix in selected regions.
Further down on the list, True Beauty, inspired by a popular webtoon of the same name, is fourth with 1,470,000 average monthly searches, while Our Beloved Summer is fifth with 924,000 average monthly searches. Both romance dramas, the first was released on December 9th, 2020, on tvN, while the second aired on December 6th, 2021, on SBS TV.
What next for K-Drama worldwide?
The team at Ready Steady Cut has always been big admirers of the K-Drama industry, and we only see growth in the future. The searches above indicate the growing trend in popularity. Will Squid Game 2 break the ceiling? Probably not, but we would not be surprised if another series came around soon that smashed the records once again.
