In May, overseas short dramas generated $229 million in revenue, with the placement of AI-generated dramas and manhua-style dramas surging by 137%.
I. Revenue and Downloads in the Overseas Short Drama Market in May
(1) Estimated Overseas Downloads and Revenue
In May 2026, the estimated total downloads of overseas micro - short drama apps on both platforms were approximately 250 million times, basically the same as in April. The estimated in - app purchase revenue on both platforms was about $229 million, a month - on - month increase of about 13%.
In May, the revenue growth rate of the industry turned positive from negative, but there was no month - on - month increase in the download scale. The main reasons are as follows: Since the second quarter, AI short dramas and comic dramas going overseas have become new growth engines, continuously bringing in new users. However, there is a lag effect in user payment conversion. The new traffic in the previous period was concentratedly converted into in - app purchase revenue in May. Therefore, there was a divergent performance of "stable downloads and significant revenue recovery".
(2) TOP 20 Overseas Micro - Short Drama App Downloads and Revenue Lists
In the TOP 20 list of overseas micro - short drama app downloads in May 2026, FreeReels under Kunlun Wanwei retained the top spot. Its monthly downloads exceeded 32 million times, a 12% decline from the previous month. NetShort under Maiya ranked second, with downloads exceeding 21 million times, a 29% month - on - month decline. PineDrama, a short drama app launched by TikTok, ranked third, with downloads also exceeding 21 million times, a 16% month - on - month increase.
In terms of ranking changes, FreeReels and NetShort continued to occupy the top two positions on the list. PineDrama steadily climbed up the rankings and entered the TOP 3, while ReelShort slipped to the fourth place. HotMiniDrama rose 2 places from the previous month and ranked sixth, with monthly downloads exceeding 11 million times, a 15% month - on - month increase.
Notably, the "newcomer" VibeShort made its first entry into the TOP 20, ranking 15th. The app's monthly downloads exceeded 5 million times, a staggering 179% month - on - month increase, showing remarkable growth.
VibeShort is a product focusing on "AI short dramas". It was launched on the App Store on February 25th and officially started continuous advertising in early April. In just two months, it outperformed many established products such as DramaBox and ShortMax and entered the TOP 5 of DataEye's overseas app material advertising list.
In addition, three Indian local short drama apps, Story TV, Kuku TV, and QuickTV, entered the TOP 20 this month. However, the downloads of all three apps continued the month - on - month decline trend.
In the TOP 20 list of overseas micro - short drama app revenue in May 2026, the top five pattern was stable with slight adjustments in rankings. Among them, DramaBox, ReelShort, and NetShort continued to occupy the TOP 3. The combined revenue of the three accounted for 52% of the total revenue of the TOP 20, and the concentration at the top increased further compared with April, intensifying the Matthew effect in the industry.
In terms of ranking changes, in addition to its outstanding performance in downloads, VibeShort also entered the TOP 10 in revenue for the first time, ranking 9th, with monthly revenue exceeding $4.5 million. Vigloo, a South Korean local short drama app, rose 5 places month - on - month to the 13th place, with its revenue surging 130% month - on - month.
Among overseas local short drama apps, three apps, My Drama (Ukraine), CandyJarTV (Germany), and Vigloo (South Korea), were shortlisted for the TOP 20 in revenue. The growth of overseas local apps showed divergence: the revenue of Vigloo and My Drama recovered month - on - month, while the revenue of CandyJarTV declined for two consecutive months. Specifically, the in - app purchase revenue of My Drama was about $3.7 million per month, a 2% month - on - month increase; the in - app purchase revenue of Vigloo was about $3.32 million, a 130% month - on - month increase; the in - app purchase revenue of CandyJarTV was about $1.42 million, a 17% month - on - month decline.
This month, a total of 5 apps achieved in - app purchase revenue of over $10 million, the same number as in the previous four months.
(3) Revenue and Downloads in Key Regions
In the estimated revenue of the overseas micro - short drama market on both platforms in May, the United States led by a large margin with over $76 million in revenue. Markets such as Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and the United Kingdom followed closely.
In terms of revenue share, the United States contributed about 33% of the market share. Japan accounted for about 7%. The payment potential of the South Korean market continued to be released, accounting for about 4.2%, and its ranking rose to the third place. Brazil and the United Kingdom both accounted for 3.5%, tying for the fourth place. The top five markets together accounted for about 52%.
In terms of the contribution of the top regions, the top 10 revenue markets in May together accounted for about 65%, a 2 - percentage - point increase from April. Paying users were highly concentrated in the top countries.
Notably, France returned to the top ten in revenue, with monthly revenue exceeding $5 million, ranking tenth. Indonesia dropped out of the top ten and fell to the eleventh place.
In terms of downloads, the overseas micro - short drama market showed a highly concentrated pattern. The demographic dividend was still the core means to acquire incremental users at present. In the estimated downloads of overseas micro - short dramas on both platforms in May 2026, Indonesia retained the first place, with downloads exceeding 53 million times. India ranked second, with downloads exceeding 39 million times. Brazil and the Philippines ranked third and fourth respectively.
In terms of market share, a single Indonesian market accounted for 21%, India accounted for about 16%, Brazil accounted for about 10%, the Philippines accounted for about 6%, and Mexico accounted for about 5%. The top five markets together contributed about 58% of the downloads. The share of the remaining markets was all 5% or less.
The list of the top 10 download markets in May did not change, only the internal rankings were slightly adjusted. Manufacturers continued to tilt their advertising resources towards high - traffic areas such as Indonesia, India, and Brazil, while the download share of mature markets in Europe and the United States continued to shrink.
Overview of Overseas Short Drama Market Advertising in May
(1) Number of Advertised Materials: 4.73 million groups of monthly advertising, a 17% month - on - month increase
According to the data of DataEye - ADX's overseas short drama version, in May 2026, the number of advertising materials for the overseas micro - short drama market reached 4.73 million groups, a 17% month - on - month increase from April, continuing the upward trend of advertising volume.
The continuous increase in overseas advertising scale is mainly due to two reasons: First, the domestic micro - short drama industry is becoming more and more competitive, and the competition in the stock market is extremely fierce. Both leading and small - and - medium - sized manufacturers have shifted their growth focus to the overseas market and increased their overseas advertising budgets. Second, AI short dramas and comic dramas are going overseas in large numbers. The content production cost has been significantly reduced, and the production capacity has been released on a large scale, which can support the iterative advertising of a large number of advertising materials and provide new growth for the overall advertising market.
(2) Number of Overseas Short Drama Apps in Advertising: 1,170 micro - short drama apps in advertising, a 9% month - on - month increase
According to the data statistics of DataEye - ADX's overseas short drama version, in May 2026, there were a total of 1,170 overseas micro - short drama apps in advertising, a 9% month - on - month increase, and the number of newly added apps in that month was 146.
Since Q2, the overseas micro - short drama market has recovered. The number of overseas micro - short drama apps in advertising and the number of newly added apps have increased for two consecutive months, which means that after a period of adjustment, the overseas micro - short drama market has regained the vitality of the supply side.
The double - growth of the number of micro - short drama apps in advertising and the number of newly added apps in May is mainly due to two changes on the supply side: On the one hand, leading large manufacturers continue to focus on the AI short drama track and launch multiple AI short drama - exclusive apps to enrich the product matrix and seize the emerging market. On the other hand, the growth potential of the overseas market continues to be realized, and a large number of small - and - medium - sized manufacturers have entered the overseas short drama track, further diversifying the market supply.
Looking at the monetization models, in the overseas micro - short drama apps in advertising in May, the number of IAP, IAA, and IAAP products all increased. (Note: Only short drama apps with a monthly advertising material volume of ≥ 100 groups were counted)
Specifically, the number of IAP products increased from 191 to 208, a 9% month - on - month increase; the number of IAAP products increased from 268 to 286, a 7% month - on - month increase; the number of IAA products increased from 75 to 92, a 23% month - on - month increase, with the fastest growth rate.
Currently, the overseas micro - short drama market is still dominated by the IAP and IAAP monetization models, and the combined share of the two exceeds 80%. The IAA model currently has a relatively low share and has not yet become the mainstream monetization model in the industry.
From the supply side, with the large - scale overseas expansion of AI short dramas and comic dramas, the content production cost has dropped significantly, and the production capacity has been rapidly released. The platform can supply a large amount of content at low cost to support the large - scale operation of free and hybrid models. In the long run, the market share of free and hybrid models will continue to squeeze the space of pure in - app purchase products, and the industry's monetization structure will continue to diversify.
(3) Popular Themes: AI Dramas/Comic Dramas Enter the TOP 5
The data of DataEye - ADX's overseas short drama version shows that among the hot - advertised themes of overseas micro - short dramas in May, the advertising volume of female - oriented materials accounted for 59%, and the advertising volume of male - oriented materials accounted for 41%, basically the same as the previous month.
In terms of specific themes, the emotional theme retained