Population Growth and Productivity

From the 1300s, onward, there was gradual growth in the size of the European population, and this trend accelerated in late 1700s and into the 1800s. Consider the population growth of these large European countries from 1350 to 1800:

Spain: from 5 to 10 million

Prussia: from 3 to 6 million

France: from 20 to 26 million

Britain: from 5 to 9 million

Then, between 1800 and 1900, Britain doubled its population and Prussia (known after 1870 as Germany) tripled its population!

This population increase meant there were more people available to work, both on the land and in the cities. This meant that more labor could be applied to the same amount of natural resources, and more goods could be produced.