In the first half of 2026, overseas short dramas and AI-generated dramas: related apps have raked in 1.27 billion US dollars, and the full-year market size will reach 6 billion US dollars.
I. Market Overview
(1) Estimation of the overseas micro-short drama industry scale
According to DataEye Research Institute, the overseas micro-short drama market size will exceed 6 billion US dollars in 2026, of which the in-app purchase payment + free model on the APP side exceeds 3 billion US dollars.
This forecast has been raised from the original 5 billion US dollars to 6 billion US dollars, mainly due to two factors: first, AI short dramas and comic dramas are launched overseas in batches, significantly increasing the overall overseas content supply; second, mainstream social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube continue to increase cooperation on short drama and comic drama content, driving the overall revenue scale of the industry to rise.
(2) Estimation of the overseas micro-short drama user scale
By the end of 2025, the monthly active users of overseas micro-short dramas are about 100 million, the global short video users are about 1.8 billion, and the user penetration rate of overseas micro-short dramas in the global short video market is only 5.56%.
Calculated by DataEye Research Institute, benefiting from the accelerated industrialization of AI short dramas and comic dramas in 2026, the supply of overseas short drama content has been greatly expanded and customer acquisition efficiency has been continuously optimized. The monthly active users of overseas micro-short dramas are expected to reach 258 million in the middle of the year, with the user penetration rate rising to 13.9%, officially crossing the industry growth singularity; by the end of the year, the monthly active users of overseas micro-short dramas are expected to reach 389 million, with the corresponding penetration rate rising to 20.9%.
The increase in monthly active users of overseas micro-short dramas relies on the production capacity explosion brought by AI technology on the one hand, and on the other hand, the intensified involution of domestic short dramas coupled with tightened supervision, a large amount of production capacity going overseas to form industrial spillover dividends.
II. APP-side Revenue and Download Volume
(1) Estimation of in-app purchase revenue of overseas short drama APPs
According to DataEye Research Institute, the estimated dual-terminal in-app purchase revenue of overseas micro-short drama APPs in the first half of 2026 is about 1.27 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of about 13% over the same period last year, and the industry as a whole maintains positive growth.
Specifically, the overall industry weakened from January to April, and the revenue in February fell to the lowest point in the first half of the year, which was mainly affected by three factors: the shrinkage of overseas launch investment during the Spring Festival, the reduction of live-action shooting production capacity, and the exit of some small and medium-sized platforms.
The industry ushered in a recovery inflection point since May, and AI dramas/comic dramas have become the core engine of growth. Low-cost and high-capacity AI dramas/comic dramas solve the pain point of limited production capacity of live-action short dramas. A large number of low-cost short dramas and comic dramas continue to be launched, and the industry revenue continues to pick up. The monthly revenue in June hit a new high in the first half of the year, and AI content has officially become the core driving force driving the growth of the overall market.
(2) Estimation of download volume of overseas short drama APPs
According to DataEye Research Institute, the estimated total dual-terminal download volume of overseas micro-short drama APPs in the first half of 2026 reached 1.441 billion, a substantial year-on-year increase of about 79%, but compared with the second half of 2025, the month-on-month growth rate is only 20%, and the industry expansion rate has slowed down.
From the perspective of monthly trend, the download volume has generally shown a "V-shaped" curve that first bottomed out and then continued to rise. The industry entered a phased adjustment period in the first quarter, and the download volume in February fell to the half-year low of 210 million times. In the second quarter, AI short dramas and AI comic dramas were released on a large scale, driving the download volume to continue to rise.
It is worth noting that the 79% year-on-year high growth rate in the first half of the year is based on the low base of the overseas short drama market in the first half of 2025; while the 20% growth rate month-on-month compared with the second half of 2025 reflects that the industry has entered the stock competition stage from the early barbaric expansion stage, the growth ceiling driven solely by live-action short dramas has appeared, and the main force of industry growth has officially shifted from live-action shooting to AI short dramas.
(3) Distribution of in-app purchase revenue of overseas short drama APPs
By country, the three major markets of the United States, Japan, and Canada rank the top three in the in-app purchase revenue of overseas micro-short drama APPs in the first half of 2026, and the three together contribute more than 44% of the share.
From the perspective of regional distribution, developed markets such as Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Canada constitute the main force of revenue, contributing more than 60% of the total revenue in total. High willingness to pay and mature payment ecology are the core reasons why the above regions lead in revenue.
From the perspective of ranking changes, the United States and Japan firmly occupy the top two positions, Canada rises to the third, South Korea ranks fourth, and the United Kingdom drops to the fifth. Among the emerging markets, Brazil and Thailand have performed prominently, firmly ranking in the TOP10 of the revenue list, and have become non-negligible incremental growth points in the overseas short drama track.
(4) Distribution of download volume of overseas short drama APPs
By country, the three major markets of India, Indonesia, and Brazil continue to rank the top three in the download volume of overseas micro-short dramas in the first half of 2026, contributing more than 50% of the total download volume in total; compared with the same period last year, the share of the three major markets has all increased.
From the perspective of regions, emerging markets such as Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India contribute more than 70% of the market download volume in total. The penetration rate of smartphones in the above regions continues to increase, the user traffic cost is low, which adapts to the business model of low-cost large-scale launch of AI short dramas, and manufacturers continue to tilt their launch resources.
From the perspective of ranking changes, the Philippines accounts for 7% of downloads, and its ranking has risen sharply from sixth last year to fourth in the world; in contrast, the United States, a mature payment market, only accounts for 4% of downloads, and its ranking has dropped from fourth to seventh.
(5) 26H1 Overseas Micro-short Drama APP In-app Purchase Revenue List
The TOP20 platforms in the overseas micro-short drama revenue list in the first half of 2026 have a total estimated in-app purchase revenue of more than 1 billion US dollars, contributing more than 80% of the total market revenue; while the TOP3 platforms have a revenue of more than 500 million US dollars, accounting for more than 40%.
In terms of new products, the dark horse of AI short dramas VibeShort performed brightly. The APP was launched on the App Store on February 25, and it ranked 18th on the list in just a few months.
In terms of manufacturers, Chinese manufacturers occupy an absolute dominant position. A total of 16 domestic short drama applications are on the TOP20 list, and 4 overseas local short drama APPs break into the TOP20 — My Drama (Ukraine), Vigloo (South Korea), Shortical (Israel), and CandyJarTV (Germany).
(6) 26H1 Overseas Micro-short Drama APP Download List
FreeReels topped the list, with an estimated download volume of more than 218 million times in the first half of the year, making it the only product in the overseas short drama track in the first half of 2026 with an estimated download volume exceeding 200 million times; NetShort ranks second, with an estimated download volume of more than 130 million times; ReelShort from Maple Interactive ranks third, with an estimated download volume of more than 121 million times.
The head effect of the market is prominent. The total estimated APP download volume of the TOP20 platforms on the download list exceeds 1.2 billion times, accounting for 84% of the entire market download volume.
The two short drama APPs under ByteDance, Melolo and PineDrama, grew rapidly in the first half of the year and both ranked into the TOP10.
On the whole, the vast majority of products on the list are launched by domestic companies, but 6 overseas local short drama APPs are also on the list. HotMiniDrama under Egypt's Tasawwaq ranks 9th; 5 Indian local APPs are on the list, Story TV, Kuku TV, QuickTV, FreeDrama, and DashReels rank 6th, 10th, 11th, 16th and 17th respectively.
(7) Proportion of in-app purchase revenue of overseas short drama APPs launched by Chinese companies
According to DataEye Research Institute, the estimated dual-terminal in-app purchase revenue of Chinese overseas micro-short drama APPs in the first half of 2026 is about 1.182 billion US dollars, accounting for about 93% of the entire market, a slight decline compared with the 95% share of the whole year of 2025. In contrast, the revenue of overseas local short drama APPs is only 70 million US dollars, accounting for 7% of the market.
Although there is a huge gap in current revenue volume between overseas local manufacturers and Chinese manufacturers, their growth momentum cannot be underestimated. In the first half of the year, a total of 10 local short drama APPs ranked into the TOP50 of the overseas revenue list, and 4 broke into the TOP20. Local players are quickly seizing market share.
(8) Proportion of download volume of overseas short drama APPs launched by Chinese companies
According to DataEye Research Institute, the estimated dual-terminal download volume of Chinese overseas micro-short drama APPs in the first half of 2026 reached 1.221 billion times, accounting for about 85% of the global market, an increase compared with the 80% share of the whole year of 2025. In contrast, the estimated dual-terminal download volume of overseas local micro-short drama APPs reached 217 million times, accounting for 15% of the market.
Among overseas local manufacturers, India relies on the huge population traffic dividend and has a strong development momentum. In the first half of 2026, 8 overseas local short drama APPs were shortlisted in the TOP50 of the global download list, of which Indian manufacturers accounted for 6 seats, and representative products include Kuku TV, Story TV, QuickTV, FreeDrama, DashReels, and Viralo TV.
(9) 26H1 In-app Purchase Revenue of Overseas Short Drama APPs Launched by Chinese Companies