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Learn how bankruptcy works in Europa Universalis 5 (EU5) and what extreme steps can be taken to reverse it.
Bankruptcy in Europa Universalis 5 is a harsh mechanic that sees a nation of any size and influence brought to its proverbial knees with crippling debuffs. Loans are wiped out and inflation drops, but the punishment that follows is so severe that most bankrupt nations immediately spiral into repeated bankruptcies every month if nothing changes. This guide highlights how bankruptcies take place in EU5 and the few options available to escape them.
Also Read: Europa Universalis 5 (EU5): Marriage and Personal Union Guide
How Bankruptcy Works in Europa Universalis 5
Bankruptcy is either declared manually through the Current Loans menu or, more commonly, automatically when the country has a negative balance at the end of a month and not enough gold is available to borrow with loans. The only positive effect of Bankruptcy is that it removes all loans and reduces inflation.
At the same time, gold is reset to 1, you are hit with -50 Stability, and 5% of all buildings are downgraded. Going bankrupt comes with a laundry list of negative effects that aren’t worth the positives. These effects last 60 months and include:
- -90% Crown Power
- -90% Navy Morale
- -50% Total Loan Capacity
- -90% Monthly Research Progress
- -90% Army Morale
- -100 Great Power Score
- -50 Pop Promotion Speed
- -90% Construction Speed
- -5% Noble Estate Satisfaction
- -5% Clergy Estate Satisfaction
- -25% Burgher Estate Satisfaction
- +200 Pop Demotion Speed
- +0.5 Monthly Progress to Traditional Economy
If you still have a negative balance at the end of the next month, your country will go through bankruptcy again. While the percentage debuffs don’t stack, the loss of Stability, building downgrades, and Great Power Score do. The loss of Estate satisfaction usually means that they don’t pay tax, pushing the budget further into the red. Therefore, once bankrupt, countries often enter the bankruptcy death spiral, which sees them hit with debuffs every month.
Also Read: How To Make Money Easily in Europa Universalis 5
How To Remove Bankruptcy in Europa Universalis 5
Austerity Measures
While it is incredibly painful to escape the bankruptcy death spiral, it can be done under certain situations by taking extreme austerity measures.
- Defund standing armies and forts.
- Reduce money invested in Diplomatic Spending.
- Deactivate fleets to cut maintenance.
- Temporarily stop all building construction.
- Reduce Stability Investment.
- Cut back on the Cost of the Court spending.
Reload or Restart
Once hit with two or three consecutive bankruptcies, recovery becomes nearly impossible. Reloading a save from a few months earlier is the only realistic non-cheat recovery option. If no viable pre-bankruptcy save exists, restarting the campaign is unfortunately a better option than attempting to escape the bankruptcy death spiral.
Also Read: Europa Universalis 5 (EU5): War Enthusiasm Guide
Use Cheats
The Bankruptcy mechanic in Europa Universalis 5 may be more punishing than the developers intended. Until it is patched to be less oppressive or a suitable mod is developed to fix it, using cheats can save a campaign from ending tragically. Use cheats from our console commands guide to get just enough gold to pull yourself out of the bankruptcy death spiral.
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