diff --git a/pkg/app/carbonapi/app.go b/pkg/app/carbonapi/app.go
index a7f76d95..495c3df3 100644
--- a/pkg/app/carbonapi/app.go
+++ b/pkg/app/carbonapi/app.go
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ type App struct {
 
 	defaultTimeZone *time.Location
 
+	// RequestPrefixes is the validated list of metric-name prefixes used to
+	// emit the requests_per_prefix_total counter. Populated from
+	// config.RequestsPerPrefixList at construction time.
+	RequestPrefixes []string
+
 	// During processing we use two independent queues that share a semaphore to prevent stampeding.
 	// fastQ includes regular requests
 	fastQ chan *RenderReq
@@ -83,6 +88,8 @@ func New(config cfg.API, lg *zap.Logger, buildVersion string) (*App, error) {
 	}
 	app.requestBlocker.ReloadRules()
 
+	app.RequestPrefixes = initRequestPrefixes(config.RequestsPerPrefixList, lg)
+
 	setUpConfig(app, lg)
 
 	app.ZipperConfig, app.Backends, app.TopLevelDomainCache, app.TopLevelDomainPrefixes, app.ZipperMetrics = SetupZipper(config.ZipperConfig, BuildVersion, &ms, lg)
@@ -258,6 +265,34 @@ func setUpConfig(app *App, logger *zap.Logger) {
 
 }
 
+// initRequestPrefixes validates the configured prefix list for the
+// requests_per_prefix_total counter: drops empty entries, drops entries
+// that contain glob characters (those cannot be matched literally), and
+// dedupes the result while preserving input order.
+func initRequestPrefixes(cfgPrefixes []string, lg *zap.Logger) []string {
+	if len(cfgPrefixes) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	seen := make(map[string]struct{}, len(cfgPrefixes))
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(cfgPrefixes))
+	for _, p := range cfgPrefixes {
+		if p == "" {
+			lg.Warn("requestsPerPrefixList: ignoring empty prefix")
+			continue
+		}
+		if strings.ContainsAny(p, "*?[{") {
+			lg.Warn("requestsPerPrefixList: ignoring prefix with glob characters", zap.String("prefix", p))
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, dup := seen[p]; dup {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[p] = struct{}{}
+		out = append(out, p)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 func (app *App) deferredAccessLogging(accessLogger *zap.Logger, r *http.Request, accessLogDetails *carbonapipb.AccessLogDetails, t time.Time, level zapcore.Level) {
 	accessLogDetails.Runtime = time.Since(t).Seconds()
 	accessLogDetails.RequestMethod = r.Method
diff --git a/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers.go b/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers.go
index 5810d760..9c1ad6d2 100644
--- a/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers.go
+++ b/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers.go
@@ -192,6 +192,16 @@ func (app *App) renderHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, lg *zap.Lo
 		return
 	}
 
+	matchedPrefixes := collectMatchedPrefixes(form.targets, app.RequestPrefixes)
+	defer func() {
+		if toLog.HttpCode/100 != 2 {
+			return
+		}
+		for p := range matchedPrefixes {
+			app.ms.RequestsPerPrefix.WithLabelValues(p).Inc()
+		}
+	}()
+
 	if form.useCache {
 		Trace(lg, "query request cache")
 
@@ -1601,3 +1611,45 @@ func addCacheErrorToLogDetails(d *carbonapipb.AccessLogDetails, isRead bool, err
 	}
 	d.CacheErrs += prefix + err.Error() + ","
 }
+
+// metricRefsPrefix reports whether `metric` directly references `prefix`:
+// metric == prefix, or metric begins with `prefix + "."`. Glob characters
+// in metric past the prefix boundary are irrelevant, but `prefix` itself
+// is matched literally and is expected to be glob-free.
+func metricRefsPrefix(metric, prefix string) bool {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(metric, prefix) {
+		return false
+	}
+	if len(metric) == len(prefix) {
+		return true
+	}
+	return metric[len(prefix)] == '.'
+}
+
+// collectMatchedPrefixes parses each target string and returns the set of
+// configuredPrefixes that are directly referenced by at least one metric in
+// any of the parsed expressions (see metricRefsPrefix). Targets that fail to
+// parse are silently skipped. Returns nil when configuredPrefixes is empty.
+func collectMatchedPrefixes(targets []string, configuredPrefixes []string) map[string]struct{} {
+	if len(configuredPrefixes) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	matched := make(map[string]struct{})
+	for _, target := range targets {
+		exp, e, parseErr := parser.ParseExpr(target)
+		if parseErr != nil || e != "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, m := range exp.Metrics() {
+			for _, p := range configuredPrefixes {
+				if _, already := matched[p]; already {
+					continue
+				}
+				if metricRefsPrefix(m.Metric, p) {
+					matched[p] = struct{}{}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return matched
+}
diff --git a/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers_test.go b/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers_test.go
index 83f1bf35..4da3c95c 100644
--- a/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers_test.go
+++ b/pkg/app/carbonapi/http_handlers_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	typ "github.com/bookingcom/carbonapi/pkg/types"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
 func TestGetCompleterQuery(t *testing.T) {
@@ -215,3 +216,145 @@ func TestOptimistErrsFanIn(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMetricRefsPrefix(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		metric string
+		prefix string
+		want   bool
+	}{
+		{"a.b.c.*", "a.b", true},
+		{"a.*", "a.b", false},
+		{"a.b", "a.b", true},
+		{"a.bc", "a.b", false},
+		{"a.b.c", "a", true},
+		{"apple.x", "a", false},
+		{"{a,x}.b.c", "a", false},
+		{"a.b.c.d", "a.b", true},
+		{"", "a", false},
+		{"a", "a", true},
+		{"a", "a.b.c", false},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		got := metricRefsPrefix(tt.metric, tt.prefix)
+		if got != tt.want {
+			t.Errorf("metricRefsPrefix(%q, %q) = %v, want %v", tt.metric, tt.prefix, got, tt.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCollectMatchedPrefixes(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		targets  []string
+		prefixes []string
+		want     []string // sorted expected matches; nil means no matches (empty or nil map)
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "no configured prefixes",
+			targets:  []string{"a.b.c.*"},
+			prefixes: nil,
+			want:     nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "single target matches single prefix",
+			targets:  []string{"a.b.c.*"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     []string{"a.b"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "single target does not match prefix",
+			targets:  []string{"x.y.z"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "multiple targets, one matches",
+			targets:  []string{"x.y.z", "a.b.c"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     []string{"a.b"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "multiple targets match different prefixes",
+			targets:  []string{"a.b.c", "x.y.z"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b", "x.y"},
+			want:     []string{"a.b", "x.y"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "target with function expression",
+			targets:  []string{"sum(a.b.c.*)"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     []string{"a.b"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "unparseable target is skipped, valid target still counted",
+			targets:  []string{"(((bad target", "a.b.c"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     []string{"a.b"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "prefix only matched at dot boundary",
+			targets:  []string{"a.bc.d"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "exact match counts",
+			targets:  []string{"a.b"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     []string{"a.b"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "each prefix counted at most once across all targets",
+			targets:  []string{"a.b.c", "a.b.d"},
+			prefixes: []string{"a.b"},
+			want:     []string{"a.b"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := collectMatchedPrefixes(tt.targets, tt.prefixes)
+			if len(got) != len(tt.want) {
+				t.Fatalf("collectMatchedPrefixes(%v, %v) = %v, want %v", tt.targets, tt.prefixes, got, tt.want)
+			}
+			for _, p := range tt.want {
+				if _, ok := got[p]; !ok {
+					t.Errorf("collectMatchedPrefixes(%v, %v): missing prefix %q in result %v", tt.targets, tt.prefixes, p, got)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInitRequestPrefixes(t *testing.T) {
+	lg := zap.NewNop()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		in   []string
+		want []string
+	}{
+		{"nil input", nil, nil},
+		{"empty input", []string{}, nil},
+		{"drops empty entries", []string{"a.b", "", "x"}, []string{"a.b", "x"}},
+		{"drops glob entries", []string{"a.b", "a.*", "a.b{c,d}", "a?b", "x[1-2]"}, []string{"a.b"}},
+		{"dedupes", []string{"a.b", "x", "a.b", "x"}, []string{"a.b", "x"}},
+		{"preserves order", []string{"z", "a", "m"}, []string{"z", "a", "m"}},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := initRequestPrefixes(tt.in, lg)
+			if len(got) != len(tt.want) {
+				t.Fatalf("got %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+			for i := range got {
+				if got[i] != tt.want[i] {
+					t.Fatalf("got %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/app/carbonapi/metrics.go b/pkg/app/carbonapi/metrics.go
index 3ebc3f6d..66a21925 100644
--- a/pkg/app/carbonapi/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/app/carbonapi/metrics.go
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ type PrometheusMetrics struct {
 	RenderPartialFail prometheus.Counter
 	RequestCancel     *prometheus.CounterVec
 
+	RequestsPerPrefix *prometheus.CounterVec
+
 	DurationTotal      *prometheus.HistogramVec
 	UpstreamDuration   *prometheus.HistogramVec
 	UpstreamTimeInQSec *prometheus.HistogramVec
@@ -97,6 +99,14 @@ func newPrometheusMetrics(config cfg.API) PrometheusMetrics {
 			[]string{"handler", "cause"},
 		),
 
+		RequestsPerPrefix: prometheus.NewCounterVec(
+			prometheus.CounterOpts{
+				Name: "requests_per_prefix_total",
+				Help: "Count of /render requests where at least one metric pattern directly references the configured prefix (i.e. equals the prefix or starts with `<prefix>.`).",
+			},
+			[]string{"prefix"},
+		),
+
 		DurationTotal: prometheus.NewHistogramVec(prometheus.HistogramOpts{
 			Name: "duration_total_seconds",
 			Help: "The total duration of an HTTP request in seconds.",
@@ -280,6 +290,7 @@ func registerPrometheusMetrics(ms *PrometheusMetrics, zms *ZipperPrometheusMetri
 	prometheus.MustRegister(ms.FindNotFound)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(ms.RenderPartialFail)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(ms.RequestCancel)
+	prometheus.MustRegister(ms.RequestsPerPrefix)
 
 	prometheus.MustRegister(ms.DurationTotal)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(ms.UpstreamDuration)
diff --git a/pkg/cfg/api.go b/pkg/cfg/api.go
index 229776c2..80e84bd1 100644
--- a/pkg/cfg/api.go
+++ b/pkg/cfg/api.go
@@ -168,6 +168,14 @@ type API struct {
 	ZipperConfig string `yaml:"zipperConfig"`
 
 	SimpleRequestThreshold int `yaml:"simpleRequestThreshold"`
+
+	// RequestsPerPrefixList configures the prefixes used to emit the
+	// requests_per_prefix_total counter. Each entry is a dot-separated
+	// metric-name prefix (e.g. "a.b"). A request is counted toward a
+	// prefix when at least one of its metric patterns equals the prefix
+	// or begins with `<prefix>.`. Empty entries and entries containing
+	// glob characters are ignored.
+	RequestsPerPrefixList []string `yaml:"requestsPerPrefixList"`
 }
 
 // CacheConfig configs the cache