๐ฅ Population
Four stats, census growth, and what moves them
Each turn your nation updates four population stats (1 to 100), then births, deaths, and census. Stats feed into income, crime, sickness, and growth.
Your dashboard shows all four stats as meters and tracks census over time. Stats clamp to 1 through 100 each turn before income is calculated.
Public services below 6% of budget: +1/turn. At 30% or above: -1/turn until Freedom reaches 25 (heavy policing erodes liberties, but not to zero). Military enlisted over 20% of census: -1/turn. Average citizen tax at 90% or above: -1/turn. Below 5%: +1/turn. Tax hits freedom less than happiness. Authoritarian governments block those +1 turn gains; negative pressure still applies.
Requires Printing Press. +1/turn when education per citizen meets or exceeds average income, or when education budget is 25% or more of revenue. -1/turn when education per citizen is below 25% of income and education budget is below 10% of revenue. Otherwise no change.
Citizen taxes (average of three classes): above 85% -1/turn; above 50% (up to 85%) -2/turn; below 5% +2/turn; below 10% (5% to 10%) +1/turn. Business tax above 50% -5/turn, above 25% (up to 50%) -2/turn. Colony tax above 50% -2/turn, above 15% (up to 50%) -1/turn.
Crime under 10% of census: +1/turn. Crime at 75% or more: -1/turn. Density above 3x supported infrastructure: -1/turn. Low-tax bonuses require Writing. Above 70, contentment drift pulls happiness down each turn (stronger the higher you are).
Ceiling starts at 15 with no faith sites (atheist/secular). Each of the first three faith sites (shrine, temple, synagogue, church, or mosque โ any mix) raises the ceiling to 45 / 75 / 100. Extra faith buildings past three do not raise it further. Lived spirituality moves each turn and cannot exceed the ceiling. Higher spirituality modestly increases birth rates. +1 when happiness is 60+ with at least one faith site.
-1 from war, happiness below 30, sick above 15% of census, radiation 25 or higher, intelligence above 85, or intelligence above 70 with no religious buildings. Happy nations (60+) with religious buildings skip the intelligence penalties.
Faith sites are free to maintain, permanent, and not war targets. You may build up to five faith sites total across all types. The first three set your spirituality ceiling to 45, 75, then 100. Nation Religion identity (leading faith, Pluralist, Atheist, Stone Age traditions) is covered in the Religion guide. Shrines unlock with farming; temples with writing; synagogues, churches, and mosques with the plow.
Births scale with census as a percentage each turn. Higher intelligence slows growth; higher happiness, spirituality, and food reserves modestly boost it. Researching farming accelerates growth (the agricultural revolution). An empty food stockpile is fine when you have farms; shortages only bite when you lack farms and stores. Overcrowding relative to infrastructure spending gradually tapers births.
Deaths: 1% of criminals plus 10% of sick each turn. Census change each turn equals births minus deaths. Classes: about 79% lower, 20% middle, 1% upper. Colonies add 5% colony class. Skyscrapers add 5% commercial class.
Actual density equals census divided by land (people per kmยฒ). Supported density comes from infrastructure spending.
High density raises sickness. Low healthcare and intelligence make it worse. When actual density exceeds 3x supported density, happiness loses 1 per turn. When density is more than twice supported density, birth rates begin to taper.
Crime rises when happiness, intelligence, or freedom are low. Public services spending arrests criminals and lowers the crime share of your population.
Sickness rises with overcrowding and falls with healthcare spending, boosted by intelligence. Radiation from nuclear strikes and outbreaks from biological strikes both add to sickness until they fade over economic turns โ outbreaks hit harder but clear faster than fallout.
See the โ๏ธ War guide for radiation and outbreak details.
Average income comes from lower, middle, and upper class incomes. Class incomes rise with all four stats and trade buildings (ports, cities, banks, factories, skyscrapers, and more).
Stats clamp to 1 through 100 before income is calculated. Class incomes cannot go below zero.