Policy dividends unleashed: Saudi Arabia plans to increase the entertainment industry’s contribution to GDP from 3% to 6%
Several Middle Eastern countries have integrated digital entertainment into their national transformation strategies, creating a more favourable policy environment for short drama platforms. Under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is promoting entertainment industry reforms, with NEOM Media City offering a 30% production rebate. The UAE and Egypt also provide filming subsidies and tax incentives to encourage short-form drama content production and ecosystem development.
Limited local content supply, short dramas rapidly fill the entertainment gap
Local entertainment production in the Middle East has long been insufficient to meet the growing digital entertainment demand of young audiences. With their short duration, fast updates, and mobile-first format, short dramas have quickly penetrated fragmented viewing scenarios such as commuting and leisure time, becoming a key content type for high-frequency consumption among young users.
Over 50% of payments made via cards and e-wallets; strong spending capacity but habits still forming, payment activation requires operational engagement
Middle Eastern markets, especially those in the GCC, rank among the world’s highest in GDP per capita and have strong consumption potential. Local e-wallets such as STC Pay and Payit are becoming more widely adopted, accelerating digital payment penetration and supporting micro-content consumption. However, current average revenue per user (ARPU) for short dramas remains at only USD 0.73, far below the global average. Platforms can stimulate first-time payments and repeat conversions through carrier billing, introductory discounts, and subscription models.
Over 60% of short drama viewers are male, and content preferences show a clear male orientation
In the Middle East, more than 60% of short drama users are male, with preferences centred on genres such as boxing, racing, revenge, and rise-of-the-underdog stories. To navigate censorship and religious sensitivities, some platforms have introduced lighter content, including family-centred and workplace-success themes, to broaden appeal and keep audiences engaged for longer.
The Middle East is emerging as a new hotspot for short drama’s overseas expansion. With competition intensifying in Southeast Asia and monetisation paths in Latin America still unclear, the Middle East stands out as one of the few markets offering both growth potential and high consumer spending power, making it the next “digital gold mine” for short-form dramas. It boasts a large, youthful online population, strong consumption potential, and supportive government policies that, together with digital transformation, are driving a surge in online entertainment. Yet is this desert gold really so easy to mine? Are audiences willing to pay for content? What kinds of stories and formats capture their imagination?
From the demand side, the Middle East has long faced a shortage of entertainment resources. Influenced by religious and cultural norms, many countries restrict the operating hours and content formats for public entertainment venues. Some regions also experience conflict and fiscal constraints, resulting in weak cultural infrastructure and limited entertainment options. In Saudi Arabia, for example, commercial cinemas were banned for 35 years, with only a few educational or research institutions permitted to screen documentaries or educational films. After cinemas reopened to the public in 2018, box office revenue exceeded $100 million that year and grew to $238 million the following year. The long-suppressed entertainment demand was quickly released following policy relaxation, setting the emotional and cultural stage for digital entertainment to take hold. This surge in consumption created a natural window for online entertainment, especially short dramas. In the context of limited offline entertainment options and restricted leisure time, more Middle Eastern residents are shifting their fragmented free time to online platforms, making short dramas a highly attractive new choice.
From the supply side, many Middle Eastern countries have recently accelerated the integration of cultural and creative industries into national strategies, with increasing policy support injecting new growth drivers into the short drama sector. Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030 in 2016, positioning the entertainment industry as a core pillar of economic diversification and aiming to increase its GDP contribution from about 3% to 6%. To promote original content, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and the Film Commission jointly established a “Content Venture Fund”, offering up to 30% cash rebates for productions filmed locally with Arabic dialogue, alongside a fast-track approval channel that significantly shortens review timelines. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi has steadily enhanced its film subsidy programme, raising rebates to a maximum of 50% from 2025 and reducing approval times from an average of 60 days to just 15 days. Subsidies now also extend to short drama productions that emphasise cultural integration. Collectively, these measures significantly reduce the barriers and time requirements for small- and medium-scale content production, enabling short drama platforms to localise and scale more quickly.
The Middle East short drama market is in a period of explosive growth, with user numbers, downloads, and monetisation capabilities all rising rapidly. According to White Whale Global (Baijing Chuhai), short drama users in the Middle East exceed 120 million, with multiple hit series on platforms reaching over 100 million views per episode. In 2024, total app downloads reached 3.476 million, a 214% year-on-year increase. In Q1 2025, downloads reached 3.563 million, up 126% quarter-on-quarter, exceeding the total downloads of the previous year. This demonstrates the blockbuster effect occurring on short drama platforms in the Middle East, with user engagement rising rapidly and market enthusiasm gaining momentum.
Short drama app downloads in the Middle East, Q1 2024 to Q1 2025
Source: Diandian Data, iResearch
At the country level, short-drama app downloads are highly concentrated in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. Saudi Arabia and Iraq together account for nearly 60% of total downloads among the top ten countries, demonstrating a leading-market effect. Other countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman each record fewer than 1 million downloads annually, indicating significant potential for growth.
Short drama downloads in major Middle Eastern countries, 2025 year-to-date
Source: Diandian Data, iResearch
On the revenue side, total revenue for short drama apps in 2024 was approximately $2.54 million, with quarterly growth consistently ranging from 30%-50%, reflecting the gradual establishment of users’ payment habits. In Q1 2025, revenue reached $1.96 million, up 104% quarter-on-quarter and 476% year-on-year, indicating that platforms have entered the initial commercialisation phase.
Short drama in-app purchase revenue in the Middle East, Q1 2024 to Q1 2025
Source: Diandian Data, iResearch
Despite rapid growth in downloads and revenue, the average revenue per download (RPD) in the Middle East remains in the ramp-up phase. In 2024, RPD was $0.73, lower than the global average of $2. This is mainly due to users’ digital content payment habits still being in the early stages of formation. As the market expands and consumer payment behaviour matures, the region’s strong monetisation potential is expected to accelerate.
Short drama RPD comparison across countries and regions, 2024
Source: Diandian Data, iResearch