Spent vanadium catalysts, mainly generated from the petrochemical industry, are classified as hazardous waste. However, they also serve as important secondary resources due to their higher contents of valuable metals such as vanadium, tungsten, molybdenum, and nickel compared to natural ores. This paper reviews the recent research progress in hydrometallurgical recovery processes of spent vanadium catalysts. It focuses on analyzing the principles, experimental conditions, advantages, and disadvantages of acid leaching, alkali leaching, and roasting-leaching processes for vanadium extraction. Furthermore, the technical routes for preparing high value-added products from recovered vanadium are summarized, including vanadium electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries, VO₂(B) and K_0.51V₂O₅ as cathode materials for aqueous zinc/potassium-ion batteries, and Ag₃VO₄-based photocatalysts. Finally, future research directions for the resource utilization and recycling of spent vanadium catalysts are proposed.