The spatial and temporal variation of drought in Poyang Lake Basin is significant，and some areas are prone to severe drought in recent decades.It is of great significance to study the drought characteristics in this region for agricultural production，water resource irrigation and ecological protection.The meteorological drought composite index（MCI）was calculated based on the daily observation data of 25 meteorological stations in the Poyang Lake basin from 1961 to 2023，and the drought process was identified according to the run length theory.Drought duration and drought intensity were analyzed using univariate and multivariate Copula functions，respectively.The results showed that the proportion of light drought and moderate drought events were high in the Poyang Lake basin，ranging from 32.20%to 64.62%and 35.38%to 67.80%，respectively.The proportion of severe drought events was low，ranging from 0.00%to 2.30%.Both drought duration and drought intensity accorded with gamma distribution，and there was a relative strong correlation with an upper tail between drought duration and drought intensity，their joint distribution can be best construted by the Gumbel Copula function.The occurrence probability of short duration and low intensity drought process was high，and the occurrence probability of long duration and high intensity extreme drought process was small.The area with the highest risk of long duration and high intensity drought in the Poyang Lake Basin showed an overall spatial pattern of＂a river-fed basin in the center surrounded by mountains＂.