We denote by $\ell(n)$ the minimal length of an addition chain leading to $n$ and we define the counting function $$ F(m,r):=\#\left\{n\in[2^m, 2^{m+1}):\ell(n)\le m+r\right\}, $$ where $m$ is a positive integer and $r\ge 0$ is a real number. We show that for $0< c<\log 2$ and for any $\varepsilon>0$, we have as $m\to \infty$, $$ F\left(m,\frac{cm}{\log m}\right)<\exp\left(cm+\frac{\varepsilon m\log\log m}{\log m}\right) $$ and $$ F\left(m,\frac{cm}{\log m}\right)>\exp\left(cm-\frac{(1+\varepsilon)cm\log\log m}{\log m}\right). $$ This extends a result of Erdős which says that for almost all $n$, as $n\to\infty$, $$ \ell(n)=\frac{\log n}{\log 2}+\left(1+o(1)\right)\frac{\log n}{\log \log n}. $$