Civ 5: Trade Routes

Tips for Gold Income, Max Slots, Plundering Routes, and Range

The Trade Overview Screen can help you Maximize Profit from Trade Routes

Trade Routes were introduced in the Brave New World Expansion for Civilization 5. This new feature allows international trade with other empires, as opposed to the City Connections that are present in Vanilla and Gods and Kings. You are still able to form City Connections with your own Cities to generate Gold Per Turn (GPT). The Trade Route system simply replaces Gold from Tiles along Rivers and Trading Posts as the primary means of earning Gold for your Civilization. You are also able to ship Food and Production supplies to your own Cities to improve their Growth or speed construction and Unit training rates. In this Guide, we'll learn all about Land and Sea Trade Routes, the Technologies that unlock additional routes and extend their range, and how the Gold you'll earn from them is calculated. While this page only covers Trade Routes and their mechanics, I have a Guide to Diplomacy that covers Trade Deals with other Civilizations.

The Trade Overview Screen - Know the Most Profitable Routes
This screen is very important to maximizing your income from your available Trade Routes. Click the drop-down menu at the top right of the screen to access this invaluable menu. You are able to click the left Gold icon to show which available routes will give you the most GPT or Science. See the example shot at the top of this Guide for an example. Use this wisely, and you'll greatly improve the efficiency of your trade route usage and help your Civilization to prosper. If you spot a good route, use the Change Home City command on your Cargo Ship or Caravan to get it there, then initiate the new route on the next turn.

Trade Route Basics

How it Works: Trade Route Slots
Your Civilization may use any mixture of Land and Sea Trade Routes, based on the current maximum - either Internal, or to other Civilizations for Gold and Science. Additional Trade Routes are unlocked by researching new techs, while others will extend the range. There are also certain buildings that extend the range of each type of Trade Route. Cities may only send one Trade Route per destination City. For example, Washington connects to London through either a Land or Sea Route. If you want to send another Route to London, you would need to use Boston or another City to make a second connection.

Gold Income
The income earned from a Trade Route is based on Resource Diversity, the income of the two Cities, and any special buildings they have. The more Resources the two Cities can share with one another, the more you will receive - 0.5G each. So, if you have 3 luxuries in your City and the destination has 2 Strategic Resources, you would get 0.5G added to the formula for each, totaling 2.5G before any % modifiers. The City's Gold Output also matters. 5% of the origin and destination City's gold output is added to the amount received. This means Trading Posts and Customs Houses from Great Merchants can increase the income you will receive, as will working Merchant Slots in your Trading City, particularly when you have buildings like the Market, Bank, and Stock Exchange that increase income by a percentage. Land Trade Routes add 25% more to income so long as the origin City borders a River. Sea Trade Routes do not receive this River bonus for obvious reasons, but their income is automatically double everything in the Formula (for a number of possible reasons, explained below).

Markets and Banks both add +1 Gold for the owner and recipient. Gold Per Turn earned from these routes changes dynamically, so it is not locked in when you make the Trade Route. You can earn more by building Trading Posts, Merchant Slots, or building a Customs House and see the GPT of the route increase on the next turn. Numbers are also rounded up/down, so you will not receive fractions of Gold.

Science per Turn
Science is also earned by utilizing Trade Routes. The amount of Science earned is based on the number of Technologies that each Civ knows that the other does not, divided by two. So if you were behind Technologically (as is the case in higher difficulties), you will earn more Science per Turn than the other Civ (who may actually get 0 Science). If they knew 10 techs you didn't, they would get 5 Science per Turn. Do not let this discourage you from Trading when you are ahead. You've already got a lead and the Science from Trade Routes is negligible and not multiplied by any buildings. When you have attained Exotic or higher Influence with a Civ through Tourism, you will gain more Science per Turn regardless of this - learn more about that in the Tourism Guide.

Internal Trade Routes - Food and Production by Era
Sea Trade Routes carry double, just as they do in Gold Trade Routes. The amount of Food/Production sent through a Trade Route is determined by the current Era. It is very handy to send your Capital Food from other Cities to allow it to work Specialists, like Writers, Artists, and Musicians, without harming Growth. There is a Steam Achievement for sending 3 Caravans to a City carrying Production to help speed construction of a Wonder. You should almost always use some internal Trade, for they can benefit you greatly. Food in particular will speed the growth of Cities, resulting in more of everything - Science, Gold from Tiles/City Connection, and Production. You get the following yields:

• Ancient Era - +3 Food/Production from Carvans, +6 Food/Production from Cargo Ships
• Classical Era - +4 for Land, +8 from Sea
• Industrial Era - +5 for Land, +10 from Sea
• Modern and Later Eras - +6 for Land, +12 from Sea

Sending Food and Production from a City does not subtract from its yields. This is simply a bonus for trading between Cities, and nothing seems to impact yields but the Era. The only means of boosting this otherwise is the Iron Curtain Order Policy to raise yields by 50%.

Technologies that Unlock Additional Trade Route Slots
Each of the following Technologies will add +1 to the maximum number of Trade Routes. Your Civ starts at 0, and may begin trading with Animal Husbandry or Sailing.

• Animal Husbandry (Ancient Era)
• Sailing (Ancient Era)
• Engineering (Classical Era)
• Compass (Medieval Era)
• Banking (Renaissance Era)
• Biology (Industrial Era)
• Railroad (Modern Era)
• Penicillin (Atomic Era)

At this point, you'll have a grand total of 8 Trade Route slots, unless you have Petra or Colossus, which add +1 each for a maximum of 10.

Caravans and Cargo Ships - Extending Range and Raising Income

Click to Enlarge. Land Trade Routes' range is extended by Roads.

Caravans: Buildings and Tech to Raise Land Trade Route Range and Gold Per Turn
Caravans are easier to protect against Barbarians than Cargo Ships, simply because you are able to easier access the route and areas in between are more likely to be 'sight blocked', as Barbarians cannot spawn in any area a Civ can see. The maximum range for these routes is 30 plots. The initial range is 10, so consider a Caravan to have 10 moves. It will take the shortest route possible. Roads DO increase Trade Route range, but it would not be particularly helpful to you to build roads into the middle of nowhere just to connect to another area. It may allow you to make connections that were otherwise impossible, like in the screenshot above. Only do this if you are outside range and need the Tourism Modifier. The following also increase Land Trade Range:

• Caravansary (Building) - Extends Land Trade Route range 50% over base (15 pre-combustion, 30 with Combustion) and adds +2 Gold for the City owner for all Routes from this City.
• Combustion (Tech) - increases range of Land Trade Routes by 10.

Cargo Ships: Buildings and Tech to Increase Sea Trade Route Range and GPT
Cargo Ships automatically earn double the amount of Gold that a Land Trade Route receives. This is presumably not only because of the additional cargo capacity of the vessels, but the additional risk - A Coastal City sending Trade Routes in the early-game may find its routes plundered by Barbarians. During War, they are also more vulnerable as they are generally traveling outside your lands. Cargo Ships have an extended Trade Route range, starting at 20 tiles. Again, consider them to have 20 moves and that they will use the shortest route possible. With both techs below and a Harbor, total range would be 60:

• Compass (Tech) - Adds 10 extra tiles to base range.
• Harbor (Building) - Extends Sea Trade Route range 50% over base.
• Refrigeration (Tech) - Adds 10 extra tiles to base range

More about Trade Routes

Religious Pressure through Trade Routes
When sent from Cities with a Majority religion, Trade Routes also spread that City's Religion, gradually converting its Citizens - so these Routes can be used strategically to send Pressure to a distant City and convert it to your own Religion. Learn more about this in the Converting Cities and Religious Pressure section of the Religion Guide. In short, because a City can only send one Route per destination City, you would need multiple Cities sending Routes to convert another City quickly. Religion Spreads naturally to Cities within a range of 10 tiles. Cities inside this range do not receive additional Pressure from Trade Routes - a City can only send Pressure by one method - either the natural way (within 10 Tiles), or with a Trade Route (outside 10 tiles). An Enhancer belief can extend this range to 13 tiles.

Trade Routes & Cultural Victory
Trade Routes play two roles in Cultural Victory. First, they give a +25% Modifier to the Tourism sent to another Civ. Second, they help to spread your Religion, which gives another 25% Modifier. The third Modifier is Open Borders. These can be raised to 40% each with Aesthetics.

Declarations of War cause Trade Routes to be Canceled
When a Nation Declares War on another, all Trade Routes between them are cancelled, and the Units lost. There is no gold gain from this, and you will have to rebuild them. It is best to Plunder Trade Routes between the Civ you want to DoW as the act which starts the war, so that you can gain some gold from the action.

Plundering Trade Routes from Enemies to other Civs during War
Enemy Caravans/Cargo Ships will automatically plot routes around your units, treating them as barbarians and avoiding conflict. If you stand on the path and intercept it, you'll automatically plunder the Route when the turn is ended. Otherwise, if you see a Caravan and can move atop it, you will have the Plunder Trade Route option. Doing this to a Civ that is trading with your enemy would drag them into the War, for plundering constitutes and act of War. There doesn't seem to be any drawback to plundering a Civ's Trade Routes when you're already at War, despite the fact that Civs should be angered by this given they are losing GPT from the loss of the incoming route.

Wonders that Unlock Additional Trade Route Slots
There are two World Wonders that unlock additional Trade Route slots. Controlling both would have your maximum routes at 10. They are The Colossus (must be built in a Coastal City) and Petra (must be built in a City on or next to a Desert Tile. Both of these will give you an instant unit to initiate Trade - the Colossus gives a Cargo Ship, Petra a Caravan. The Colossus will give you +2 Gold for any Trade Routes other Civs send to you, while giving them +1. Petra makes Desert Cities much more liveable. Both of these are very desirable Wonders.

Social Policies and Ideological Tenets that Affect Trade Routes

• Merchant Confederacy (Patronage Policy) - +2 GPT for each Trade Route with City-States.
• Wagon Trains (Commerce Policy) - +2 GPT from all Land Trade Routes.
• Treasure Fleets (Exploration Policy) - +4 GPT from all Sea Trade Routes.
• Economic Union (Freedom Ideology) - +3 GPT for all Trade Routes to other Civs following Freedom.
• Treaty Organization (Freedom Ideology) - +4 Influence per turn for each City-State with whom you have a Trade Route.
• Iron Curtain (Order Ideology) - 50% more Food/Production from Internal Trade Routes.

Civilizations Good at Trading

The following Civilizations' Leaders have Bonuses that give them a boost to Trade:

• Arabia - Caravans gain +50% extended range. Land/sea trade routes spread the home city's religion at double effectiveness.
• Germany - their Hanse Unique Building (Bank Replacement) will give +5% Production to all Cities for each Trade Route you have to City-States.
• Iroquois - Units and Caravans move through forest/jungle in your territory as if they were roads. This means those 'roads' will slightly extend the range of their Land Trade Routes.
• Morocco - +3 Gold and +1 Culture for each trade route with a different Civ/CS. Other Civs get +2 Gold for connecting to Moroccan Cities, encouraging them to send more Trade your way.
• Portugal - Resource diversity grants double gold for Portugal in each trade route, which can amount to a lot of extra Gold.
• Venice - Double the amount of max Trade Routes, depending on Tech level - Petra/Colossus also add +2 each instead of the usual +1.

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