China’s Micro-Drama Industry to Surpass Box Office Revenue in 2025, Global Market Booms

The micro-drama industry in China is on track to overtake the country’s domestic box office in revenue by the end of 2025, according to a new report by Media Partners Asia (MPA). The findings reveal that revenues surged from $0.5 billion in 2021 to $7 billion in 2024, with projections estimating the market will exceed $16.2 billion by 2030, driven by an 11.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

By 2030, advertising is expected to contribute 56% of China’s micro-drama revenues, while subscriptions will make up 39% and commerce 5%. This signals a strong pivot toward ad-supported short-form content models.

Globally, the micro-drama market generated $1.4 billion in 2024, and MPA forecasts it will reach $9.5 billion by 2030. Unlike China, the global revenue mix will remain dominated by subscriptions and in-app purchases, contributing 74% of income, while advertising is projected to rise to 25%.

In China, micro-dramas have become a mainstream entertainment form, attracting over 830 million viewers, nearly 60% of whom are active payers or buyers. The market is spearheaded by three industry giants: ByteDance (Red Fruit), Tencent (WeChat Video Accounts), and Kuaishou (Xi Fan). These platforms offer dedicated apps that are integrated with social networks and payment systems, making content discovery and monetization seamless.

One unique aspect of China’s ecosystem is its integration with IP sources like China Literature, COL, and Tomato Novel, enabling rapid adaptation of web novels into serialized vertical video dramas. The rise of premium micro-dramas, with production budgets between $400,000 and $600,000, also indicates a shift toward high-quality franchises.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now embedded across the production lifecycle in China, from personalized content discovery and genre testing to branching storylines and automated localization. Globally, AI is largely used for translation and dubbing, though its role in cost reduction is expected to expand rapidly.

Outside of China, the U.S. micro-drama market is the largest, with $819 million in 2024 revenue, forecasted to hit $3.8 billion by 2030. The primary audience in the U.S. consists of urban, affluent women aged 30–60, with a strong preference for romance, CEO dramas, and revenge narratives. Companies like DramaBox and ReelShort are leading players, with DramaBox reporting $323 million in revenue and $10 million in profit, while ReelShort leads in scale at $400 million but remains loss-making due to high marketing costs.

Japan is emerging as a key Asia-Pacific market, projected to generate $1.2 billion in micro-drama revenue by 2030, thanks in part to LINE Pay integration and a surge in local production.

Southeast Asia and Latin America are also seen as growth hotspots, while India is in an exploratory phase with both local and international players experimenting with the format.

According to Vivek Couto, Executive Director of MPA, the success of micro-dramas lies in low-cost production but high-cost distribution, emphasizing the need for scale, speed, and repeatable IP. He highlights China as a model of social-integrated monetization and the U.S. as a path for global expansion.