Economy

Version

Please help with verifying or updating older sections of this article. At least some were last verified for version 3.7.

This article is for the PC version of Stellaris only.

A gas giant with four units of research resources and one unit of the very rare Zro resource.

In Stellaris, the economy is based on the production and consumption of resources and services either from a specific planet or throughout the empire. It relies primarily on  pops working  jobs to produce most resources, with mining or research stations built over space deposits as a secondary source. Certain buildings and other sources can produce resources as well.

Resources can vary from fairly common  food crops to very rare substances such as  dark matter and also abstract concepts such as  influence and  research.

There are two kinds of resources: Material and Abstract. In addition, certain empire capacities (e.g.  naval capacity) or planetary values (e.g.  amenities) are "produced" in a similar way to resources. If an empire's stored stockpile for a material resource drops to 0 with negative income, a Shortage situation begins.

Resource storage capacity

All resources can be stockpiled. All empires have a 15,000 starting storage capacity for each material resource except  energy, which has a 50,000 starting storage capacity. An empire can build Resource Silos buildings on colonies and Resource Silo buildings on starbases to expand their storage capacity. In addition, when the Galactic Market is founded, all members of the  Galactic Community gain 10,000 storage capacity, and researching  Mega-Engineering adds 20,000 to an empire's storage capacity. When an empire's storage capacity for a resource is reached, any additional production of that resource is simply lost.

For abstract resources, only  influence has a maximum storage capacity: 1,000.  Unity and  research have unlimited storage capacity; stored research is automatically used when researching a technology or special project, for more see stored research.

Material resources

Material resources are the primary means of developing an empire's infrastructure. Most construction – whether buildings, districts, ships, or other – requires at least one material resource. Additionally, material resources are used for most  upkeep, from  pops to ships to megastructures and more.

Basic resources

Basic resources are directly gathered from space deposits or by  jobs from resource districts.

Resource	Main uses	Description
Energy credits	Clear Blockers Cost Terraforming Cost Campaign Edicts Cost Various Upkeep Robotic Pop Upkeep Market purchases	Energy Credits () is an energy backed currency accepted by all space-faring races. You can gain more energy by: Building Generator Districts on the surface of colonized planets. Using Construction Ships to build Mining Stations around energy rich planets or stars. Selling resources on the Market.
Minerals	Buildings and Districts Cost Stations Cost Manufacturing Jobs Upkeep Lithoid Pop Upkeep	Minerals () is a collective term for the basic resources we need to construct ships, stations and planetary buildings. We can gain more by: Building Mining Districts on the surface of colonized planets. Using Construction Ships to build Mining Stations around mineral rich planets or asteroids. Buying more on the Market.
Food	Biological Pop Upkeep Colony Ship Cost for Biological Empires	Food () represents the various nutrients required to sustain and grow Pops. You can gain more by: Building Agriculture Districts on the surface of colonized planets. Building Hydroponics Bays on starbases Buying more on the Market.

Advanced resources

Advanced resources are produced by  jobs which refine them from  minerals.

Resource	Main uses	Description
Alloys	Starbase and Ship Cost Ship Upkeep Megastructure Cost	Alloys () are advanced resources with a military application, which we need to construct Ships and Starbases. We can gain more by: Building Alloy Foundries buildings on the surface of colonized planets. Building Industrial Districts on the surface of colonized planets. Buying more on the Market.
Consumer goods	Gestalt Consciousness empires do not use consumer goods except for  Rogue Servitors Pops upkeep Various Specialist jobs upkeep Colony Ship Cost (Unless  Gestalt Consciousness) Distribute Luxury Goods decision	Consumer Goods () is an advanced resource that represents the various gadgets, luxuries and goods necessary to give your Pops a good life and to perform intellectual Jobs such as Research. You can gain more by: Building Civilian Industries buildings on the surface of colonized planets. Building Industrial Districts on the surface of colonized planets. Buying more on the Market.

Strategic resources

 Strategic resources are specialized resources required to both build and maintain advanced buildings and ship components. They are harder to obtain than the common basic and advanced resources and are therefore also much more highly valued. Strategic resources can be obtained by either extracting them from natural space or planetary deposits or manufacturing them synthetically. Natural strategic resource deposits are always visible but requires specific technologies to exploit. Synthetic versions are produced from  minerals, albeit at a steep price. All strategic resources can also be manufactured from Fallen Empires' Dimensional Fabricator buildings.

Resource	Main uses	Required tech (either)	Major source	Description
Exotic Gases	Advanced plasma weapon components Advanced shield components Strategic resource edicts Advanced buildings cost and upkeep0 Cyto-Revitalization Center Hall of Judgement Energy Nexus Advanced research buildings Hyper-Entertainment Forums Executive Retreat Organic Paradise	Exotic Gas Extraction  Exotic Gas Refining	Exotic Gas Refineries Gas Extraction Wells Nebula Refinery Gas giant deposits Toxic world deposits	Rare and exotic gases with a variety of uses, particularly in the operation of advanced energy-based weaponry and force fields. Some of the gases can also be used as starship fuel or even as recreational drugs.
Rare Crystals	Advanced laser weapon components Advanced hull components Strategic resource edicts Advanced buildings cost and upkeep0 Advanced consumer goods buildings Commerce Megaplexes Advanced housing buildings Advanced unity buildings Xeno-Outreach Agency	Rare Crystal Mining  Rare Crystal Manufacturing	Synthetic Crystal Plants Crystal Mines Ice asteroid deposits Frozen world deposits	These crystals have properties that make them extremely effective at focusing laser beams, and they are also a critical component in most advanced electronics. In addition, many cultures treasure them as decorations and adornments.
Volatile Motes	Advanced kinetic and missile weapon components Strategic resource edicts Advanced buildings cost and upkeep0 Food Processing Centers Mineral Purification Hubs Advanced alloys buildings Fortress	Mote Stabilization  Volatile Material Plants	Chemical Plants Mote Harvesting Traps Asteroid deposits Molten world deposits	These preternatural particles contain a tremendous amount of energy which could be exploited in energy production, as fuel or even as explosives.

Special resources

Special  strategic resources which cannot be manufactured by regular empires. Space and planetary deposits of these resources are much less common than even the regular strategic resources. Fallen Empires' Dimensional Fabricator buildings will produce these resources (except Nanites) when held by the fallen empire, but not when held by a regular empire.

Resource	Main uses	Required tech	Major source	Description
Zro	Psionic Shields component Sight Beyond Sight edict Zro Additives edict Zro Catalysis edict	Zro Distillation	Toxic world deposits Gas giant anomalies	An extremely rare aerosol of exotic particles. It has been deposited on a number of worlds through meteor impacts, but its true origin is a mystery. If ingested by psionically-gifted individuals, zro acts as a very potent (and addictive) drug that enhances PSI abilities.
Dark Matter	Dark Matter Deflectors component Dark Matter Reactor component Dark Matter Thrusters component Star-Eater construction Aetherophasic Engine upgrade	Dark Matter Drawing	Black hole deposits Black Hole Observatory Star-Eaters	This exotic substance has many properties that seemingly defy several natural laws. Harvestable concentrations can only be found near Black Holes or in certain nebulas.
Living Metal	Living Metal Mega-Construction edict	Living Metal	Anomaly deposits Destroyed Contingency Sterilization Hubs Sentinels archaeology site Sold rarely by the caravaneers	This inorganic metal shows characteristics usually seen only in biological life forms. It will always attempt to regenerate back into the shape it was stabilized into.
Nanites	Nanite Repair System component Nanite Transmuter building upkeep Nanite Actuators edict	—	L-Cluster celestial bodies Broken world in Scavenger Bot system	Simple but powerful nanoactuators, allowing for complex manipulations and experiments of macroscopic scales.

Minor artifacts

 Minor Artifacts are a special resource that cannot be gained passively from deposits and is obtained primarily from archaeology sites. They can be used for special actions,

Resource	Main uses	Major source	Description
Minor artifacts	Decisions that improve job output Minor artifact applications Upgrading a Mega Art Installation past its final stage	Archaeological sites Percursor anomalies The Rubricator relic activation	Minor Artifacts () represent obscure technology and half-forgotten lore recovered from archaic civilizations, only partially understood by our own science. They are more common than Relics, and can be spent to enact various empire-wide effects.

Abstract resources

Abstract resources represent an empire's sociopolitical and technological capabilities.

Resource	Main uses	Description & notes
Influence	Making claims Building outposts Decisions that increase planet size Megastructures that improve movement Artificial planets Diplomatic pacts upkeep Modifying subject agreements Integrating subjects	Influence () represents political clout and is used for things like making Claims and building Outposts. The gain rate remains fairly constant throughout the game, but can be increased by declaring other empires your Rivals or increasing your Power Projection. Power Projection grants up to 2 Influence depending on how many ships you have compared to your Empire Size.
Unity	Leader recruitment and upkeep Unlocking Traditions Edicts cost and upkeep Planetary decisions cost Influencing elections Reforming the government	Unity () is used to unlock new Traditions, recruit Leaders and enact Edicts. We can increase our output by building an Autochton Monument or other buildings that provide jobs which produce Unity.
Research	Researching technologies Researching special projects	Physics / Society / Engineering Research () is used to research new technologies. We can increase out output by: 1. Building Research Labs buildings on our colonies. 2. Using Construction Ships to build Research Stations around certain planets or stars. Research speed is based on monthly research production, multiplied by  Research Speed modifiers. Research can be stored by not working on any technology or special project. Stored research doubles the progress speed of technology and special projects until the storage is emptied. The amount of stored research can be checked by hovering over the research output.

Trade value

Main article: Trade

Trade value is not strictly a resource; thus it cannot be stockpiled and instead is collected at the capital via trade routes and converted monthly into  energy credits,  consumer goods and / or  unity based on the empire's trade policy.  Gestalt Consciousness empires cannot and do not use trade value.

Resource	Major source	Description
Trade value	Pops (varies based on Living Standards, Civics and/or Traits) Various jobs Galactic Stock Exchange building increases planetary overall trade value Celestial Body deposits (no stations required) Branch Office buildings	Trade Value represents civilian day-to-day economic activity. Starbases collect Trade Value and convert it into resources such as Energy Credits if connected to your capital planet through a Trade Route. Trade Value that is directly collected by your capital Starbase does not need a trade route to generate resources.

References

Game concepts