Using gross primary productivity (GPP) of vegetation and evapotranspiration (ET) data, combined with standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) data, the variation characteristics of vegetation water use efficiency (WUE) in the Yellow River Basin from 1982 to 2018 were revealed, and the cumulative effect of drought on vegetation WUE were quantified. The results indicate that the cumulative impact of drought on WUE can be measured by the months with the most significant correlation between multi-scale SPEI and WUE. The annual average WUE shows a distribution pattern of low in the north and high in the south, showing a certain similarity to the spatial distribution of annual average GPP. The WUE shows an upward trend, mainly because the GPP growth rate is greater than the ET growth rate. Drought has a cumulative effect on 58.48% area of vegetation WUE in the Yellow River Basin, with cumulative time scales of 1~2months, 6~8 months, and 19~24 months accounting for 43.58%, 23.10%, and 16.96%, respectively. The cumulative time scale of drought on WUE varies depending on vegetation types and hydrological and climatic conditions. The cumulative impact of drought on grasslands and farmland near desert areas in the north is long-term (>18 months), while the cumulative impact on grasslands and forests in humid and semi humid areas is short-term (≤4 months). The average cumulative time scale decreases with the increase of annual average SPEI, and the larger the SPEI, the shorter the cumulative time scale of drought on vegetation WUE.