<p>Drought propagation, as an intermediate link in the development and evolution of drought, characterizes the internal propagation mechanism of drought from the perspective of spatiotemporal processes. When drought propagation occurs, due to differences in underlying surface conditions, the soil moisture in karst and non-karst areas of Southwest China has different response rules to meteorological drought. However, the propagation mechanism of meteorological drought to agricultural drought in Southwest China is still not clear enough. This study proposed drought propagation index of trend of severity (DSTP) and drought volatility propagation index (DVP), and analyzed the propagation rates, types, and driving mechanism of meteorological drought characteristics to agricultural drought characteristics in Southwest China using the drought duration propagation index (DDP), drought intensity propagation index (DIP), DSTP, and DVP. The results show that the proportion of peer-to-peer types in the propagation of drought duration and drought volatility is highest in Southwest China, karst areas and non-karst areas of Southwest China, but the proportion of extra strong types in the propagation of drought intensity and the growth trend of drought severity is highest in Southwest China, karst areas and non-karst areas of Southwest China. For drought characteristics, DIP and DSTP in Southwest China, karst areas and non-karst areas of Southwest China has the strongest correlation with meteorological drought severity. The correlation between DIP, DSTP, DVP, and average annual potential evapotranspiration in karst areas of Southwest China is stronger than that in non-karst areas of Southwest China, but the correlation between DDP and average annual potential evapotranspiration in karst areas of Southwest China is weaker than that in non-karst areas of Southwest China.</p>