Victoria 3 economy - How to cut expenses and earn money

Growing your Victoria 3 economy is absolutely the best way to strengthen your community in the epic world-building sim. Without a strong economy, it is impossible to expand cooperation with other countries and become more influential.

In this Victoria 3 guide, you will find out everything you need to know about the economy in the game. We've got plenty of tips to help you grow your economy, ensuring you're a very rich nation in no time. Even if you are an experienced player, you can find valuable tips here.

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How do I grow my Victoria 3 economy?

The foremost thing you should know is that economy in Victoria 3 works pretty similarly to real life. So, if you are aware of the economy and international relations, there will be nothing challenging about building a working economic structure in Victoria 3. Moreover, the game does not limit you. Therefore, you can try to implement the strangest economic models in Victoria 3.

But before implementing the most creative models, it would be best to find out the best tips to improve the economy in Victoria 3. Tips in this guide are universal, and can be used not only if you run a small state but also if you own an empire.

Cut down your military expenses

The foremost thing you should know is that the military and wars are the most expensive state sectors in Victoria 3. Focusing on the military industry during the game’s early stages might easily bankrupt you. Therefore, it would be best to cut down your expenses on the military until you reach a stable economy.

One of the most suitable ways to go it is to rely on conscripts for the country’s defence. Of course, you will still spend a small part of your income on the military, but this percentage is much less than if you expand your regular army forces regularly. Moreover, it will save your defence capability. Therefore, other countries will not be eager to conquer your territories.

Find your mono resource

Even though some geopolitical theories ignore the impact of geographical conditions on state development, in Victoria 3 your location is one of the most important things. You should build your economy around the mono resource that will be exported. Geographical conditions will primarily determine a resource for you.

Big empires require critical resources like rubber, coal, iron, silk, dye, and others. Therefore, if you focus your factories on producing these resources, you will be able to export them with the highest profit. After that, money obtained from trading can be used for building new factories or for industrial growth. If you are risky, you can try to become a monopolist on the market of a specific product and get even more money.

Build infrastructure

The fact is that you should perfectly build the local economy to ensure good economic health. The best way to do it is to maintain Market Access for remote states, ensuring they can purchase your goods. You can do it only by developing infrastructure.

Every construction in Victoria 3 requires additional infrastructure. Therefore, the first thing you should do from the start is to build the railway. Even though it is highly subsidised, the railway significantly impacts your economy, allowing you to transport goods. Also, you should ensure a port in every overseas location.

Develop technologies

You should pay attention to technologies, even from the start of the game. They significantly improve the in-game experience and stimulate economic growth. There are four technologies you should develop in the early stages. Continue reading the guide to find out about all of them:

Railroads

Railroads are probably the best technology in Victoria 3. It allows you to build railways and expand your territory.

Atmospheric Engine and Water Tube Boiler

These two technologies should be developed simultaneously to reach the best result. Generally, they are used to make mining more effective so that you will be able to expand it faster.

Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceuticals are used to enable private healthcare. Even though it might seem that this technology is economically useless, it is not. Developing pharmaceuticals makes all your manufacturers more productive.

Balance prices

The foremost thing you should know is that there are a few types of goods in Victoria 3: industrial, necessities, luxury, and armed. The more products you produce, the lower the overall price will be. And if production is tiny, prices will become higher, and the significant risk of rebellion will grow proportionally to prices.

Therefore, you should minimise prices on necessities as much as possible, to keep citizens happy. Most people are interested in something other than purchasing specific goods. So, reducing expenses for essentials will improve life quality. Also, people will have more free money that they will spend on art and entertainment, boosting other areas of your economic growth.

Remove migration controls

Whether to remove migration controls is one of the most controversial questions in Victoria 3. Doing it has various positive and negative effects, and at every stage of growth, removing migration controls has a different impact on the economy. The main advantage is that a larger population allows you to increase GDP.

Also, you will have more people to tax, producing more money for your country. At the same time, increasing the rate of migrating people in society may significantly increase rebellions based on racism or crime rates.

Therefore, it is recommended to remove controls only if you have a peaceful society and a working economy. In other cases, eliminating migration controls will create problems that will make your state closer to default.

That's it for our tips on growing your Victoria 3 economy! It's a dense game filled with complex mechanics, so these pointers should help you get going. While you're here, feel free to also check out the best free RPG games, as well as the best free MMORPGs you can play right now!