Europa Universalis 5 Economy Guide (How to Make Money)

It takes a lot of money to run a country in Europa Universalis 5, and there are two primary ways to earn it: taxation and trade. Indeed, these systems are at the core of a country's economy, and players who want to maximize their incomes will need to have an understanding of how to engage with them. This guide to the economy in Europa Universalis 5 is here to provide that understanding, and it will help players start filling their treasuries.

This guide is intended as an overview of the core components of an economy in EU5. While it will serve players who are trying to establish a foundational grasp on the systems at play well, there is certainly much more to learn.

Taxes in Europa Universalis 5

Tax Base

Taxes provide a key source of income, and a player should work to extract as much tax as they can from each location in their country. To increase the tax income you receive from a location, you must focus on increasing the control you are exerting upon that location. This guide to increasing control in Europa Universalis 5 will assist players with that undertaking, and here is a quick summary of the options that are available to them:

Build roads that connect locations to the capital.
Increase harbor capacity and maritime presence if the route between the location and the capital passes over seazones.
Initiate the Increase Province Control cabinet action.

As a player's control over a location goes up, so does the effective tax base of that location, and that determines how much of its potential tax base is being divided among the estates in the location. To concretize this idea with an example, players can imagine a location that has a potential tax base, which is determined by the profit of its R.G.O and buildings, of 10 gold. If the player has 100% control of that location, the effective tax base will be 100% of the potential tax base, which means that all 10 gold will be distributed to the estates. However, if the player has only 50% control of the location, the effective tax base will be 50%, and the estates will only receive half of the location's potential tax base.

Players can check the potential tax base and effective tax base of a location by clicking on the location and hovering over the key icon in the information pane.

Tax Rate

Once a location's effective tax base has been divided among its estates, the gold that is converted into income is contingent upon the tax rates that the player is applying to the estates. To continue with the example from above, if the Burghers in the location receive four of the 10 gold, and the Burghers are taxed at a rate of 25%, then the player will receive one gold from the estate in that location.

Players can see how the potential tax rate is being divided, and how much is being converted into income, by hovering over the coin icon in a location's information pane.

With respect to how to adjust an estate's tax rate, that is done by navigating to the Balance menu within the Economy tab and moving the associated sliders. That said, it is important to know that increasing the tax rate can lead to the estate's decreased satisfaction, and dropping below 50% satisfaction can have some serious consequences. Fortunately, automating tax rates for each estate, by clicking the cog next to them, makes avoiding that issue quite easy, as doing so will lead to rates that look to maximize income while also keeping satisfaction above 50%.

Each estate has a maximum tax rate, which can be viewed by hovering over the estate in the Balance menu. This limitation can be altered in various ways, and players may ultimately want to raise maximum tax rates to extract even more income from their estates.

Tax Efficiency

Finally, there is tax efficiency, which appears at the top of the Balance menu and is a measurement of how efficient a country in EU5 is at collecting taxes. While players will not engage with efficiency as much as they engage with altering effective tax bases and tax rates, they will have some opportunities to increase it and earn more tax income. For example, players may see tax efficiency modifier when they are issuing estate benefits.

Summary

In summary, here is how money is made through taxes:

Control over a location determines how much gold is distributed to the estates. Increase control to increase the amount that is distributed.
Tax rates determine how much of that distributed gold is collected from the estates. Maximize your tax rates without jeopardizing the satisfaction of the estates.
Tax efficiency has an overall effect on the collection of taxes. Look to increase it when possible.

Trade in Europa Universalis 5

Trade is another primary income source in Europa Universalis 5, as it allows players to import and export goods for profit. While providing a comprehensive overview of trading is beyond the scope of this guide, here are some basic concepts that players need to understand when getting started with this feature.

Trade Capacity & Advantage

The amount of trading that can be performed is determined by how much trade capacity a player has within a market, and the simplest way to increase trade capacity is by building Marketplaces within towns. Indeed, each Marketplace increases trade capacity by one, and players can find them in the Production tab's Buildings menu.

Players must also be conscious of the trade advantage they have in the markets they are attempting to import from. For the uninitiated, trade advantage determines the priority that a country gets within a market, and players may not receive their desired goods if there is a country in the market with a higher advantage. Once again, Marketplaces are a good way to increase trade advantage and establish dominance within a market.

Crown Power

While EU5 players are increasing the quantity and quality of their trades through capacity and advantage, they should also look to increase the percentage of trade income that goes to the treasury by raising Crown Power. To raise Crown Power, players should look to legitimacy, reforms, and laws, and the Crown Power percentage converts directly into the percentage of trade income that is collected. This is just the beginning of the benefits that are associated with increasing Crown Power, though, and players should always be searching for opportunities to raise it.

How to Start Trading

With respect to how to initiate trades, players should select the Economy tab, select Trading, and click on trades that are of interest. Players can continue to pick trades in this fashion until they have used up all their available trade capacity, and they can see how their trades have fared after a month has passed.

To note, players can fully automate trade by moving the Market Automation slider all the way to the right. This is a great way to get started, as you can begin to develop an understanding of the types of trades that are desirable from what is automatically selected. Players can also limit the amount of trade capacity that is automated, by moving the slider to the left, allowing them to initiate some of their own trades while automating the rest.

Other Ways to Make Money in Europa Universalis 5

While taxes and trade are the foundation of a healthy economy in Europa Universalis 5, here are a few more things that players can do to improve their income:

Minting

Players can mint coins by moving the Minting slider in the Economy tab's Balance menu to the right. That said, it is recommended that players keep the inflation percentage that appears to the right of the slider in the green by being thoughtful about their minting practices.

Cut Costs

While players are in the Balance menu, they could also cut some spending to increase their income temporarily. For example, if a player is not actively engaging in diplomacy, they could take their Diplomatic Spending to zero. This approach is not a long-term solution, but it can be useful in the early stages of establishing an economy.

Production Efficiency

Players can increase the profits generated by their buildings by increasing the production efficiency within them. Production efficiency in a building can be increased in several ways, like increasing the average literacy of its laborers and making sure certain goods are present in the location, and players can see what is impacting it by taking these actions: