Report: Short drama app downloads surge 95.5%
August 18, 2026



Mintegral, a leading AI-powered interactive advertising platform, has released its H2 2026 Global Non-Gaming App Trends Report, developed in partnership with advertising intelligence platform Insightrackr.

The report highlights that global non-gaming app downloads reached 47.5 billion in H1 2026 — a 16.6 per cent year-over-year increase. While Utilities and Entertainment were the largest categories by volume, Short Drama emerged as a breakout vertical, recording an extraordinary 95.5 per cent YoY growth to hit 1.45 billion global downloads.


Key Highlights from the Report

• Regional Disparities: Emerging markets accounted for 83 per cent of global Short Drama downloads, led by Southeast Asia (518 million), Latin America (355 million), and APAC (330 million). Europe, America, and the Middle East comprised the remaining 17 per cent.

• Monetisation Breakdown: Hybrid monetisation dominates the Short Drama sector (57.6 per cent), followed by IAA-only (39.9 per cent), while pure IAP accounts for 2.5 per cent. Contextual video ads generated exceptional yields: Rewarded Video ads paid out 11.4x the Android baseline eCPM, and Interstitial Video reached 7.8x.

• UA & Creative Competition: Short Drama leads all sectors with a creative density of 1,887, with active ad apps (+132 per cent) and ad creatives (+151 per cent) more than doubling. Global CPIs averaged 2.3x the Android baseline, ranging from 0.9x in SEA to 5.9x in Europe.

The report emphasises that category momentum does not automatically equal efficient growth. App publishers and advertisers must evaluate four interconnected pillars—market demand, advertising competition, acquisition cost, and monetisation potential—before scaling.

“The non-gaming app landscape is undergoing rapid transformation,” said Erick Fang, CEO of Mintegral. “Publishers who combine automated, ROI-based user acquisition with engaging ad formats are finding ways to balance massive scale with long-term profitability.”