China's micro-drama boom will overtake box office revenues this year: report

Micro dramas are "mainstream" in China with end-of-2025 revenues forecasted to exceed $9.4 billion, overtaking its domestic box office, according to a new report by Media Partners Asia. 

The report tracks the rise of the global short-form drama economy. In China, micro-drama revenues have shot up from just $500 million in 2021 to $7 billion in 2024. With an 11.5% CAGR, revenues are projected to more than double again, hitting $16.2 billion by 2030. Advertising will lead the charge, making up 56% of earnings, followed by subscriptions (39%) and commerce (5%).

China’s micro-drama market already reaches 830 million viewers, with nearly 60% actively making payments and transactions. Market leaders include ByteDance’s Red Fruit, Tencent’s WeChat Video Accounts, and Kuaishou’s Xi Fan, which are leaning on standalone apps and IP pipelines from major media outfits such as COL, China Literature, and Tomato Novel. Meanwhile, so-called S-class productions are gaining momentum, with budgets climbing as high as US$600,000, fuelling a wave of franchising.

Globally, the micro-drama market brought in $1.4 billion in 2024 and is on track to reach $9.5 billion by 2030, growing at a blistering 28.4% annually. By then, most revenues will come from subscriptions and in-app purchases (74%), with advertising (25%) and commerce (1%) making up the rest.

After China, the US is the second-largest market, generating US$819 million in 2024 and projected to hit US$3.8 billion within five years. In the Asia-Pacific, Japan is leading the pack (excluding China), with revenues forecast at US$1.2 billion by 2030. Southeast Asia and Latin America are marked as high-growth regions, while India is also exploring local and international microdrama platforms.

In China, AI is reshaping the entertainment value chain, powering personalised discovery, testing new genres, and boosting virality. Globally, AI use is still largely limited to localisation and dubbing, but MPA expects its role in cost-cutting and creative experimentation to expand quickly.

“Micro dramas have evolved from a niche experiment to a multi-billion-dollar global category. Production is cheap, but distribution is costly, and success depends on speed, scale, and repeatable IP. China’s ecosystem shows what’s possible when content is integrated into social and payments rails, while the U.S. is proving the viability of global expansion,” said Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia.  

He added, “Markets such as Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America are emerging. The winners will be operators that control their distribution and monetisation infrastructure, manage customer acquisition costs, and build sustainable IP pipelines.”