A head-space solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for the analysis of volatile components in dry Pogostemon. Based on the peak area of patchouli alcohol, the experimental conditions for HS-SPME were optimized. The optimum conditions were; 30 mg Pogostemon cablin powder, which was 10 times diluted using anhydrous sodium sulfate, was placed into a 15 mL extraction tube. After incubated at 80 °C for 40 min with stirring speed of 250 r/min, polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene(PDMS-DVB) coated fiber was inserted and extracted for 40 min at 80 °C with the same stirring speed. Then the fiber was inserted into the injection port and desorption for 100 s at 250 °C. DB-5MS capillary with a flow rate of 1 mL/min was used for GC separation. The average recovery of patchouli alcohol under the optimum conditions was 91. 8% with a RSD of 3. 0%. Then the content of patchouli alcohol in ten samples of Pogostemon cablin from different areas was determined, the other main volatile components in Pogostemon were also calculated by using patchouli alcohol as reference standard. The results show that the developed method is simple, rapid and reliable, which is suitable for qualitative and quantitative analysis of volatile compounds in Pogostemon cablin.