The economic history of France during the fifteenth century was more dependent on agriculture, as there wasn’t much industrial development, and about 90% of the French population lived in rural areas. The only large city in France was Paris. The main cash crops were saffron, olives, wine grapes and cider apples. Though agriculture was the prime mode of revenue generation, yields were quite low compared to those of the modern age due to the use of older methods of agriculture. This was an increasing challenge in that situation as the population was growing day by day.

By the end of the fifteenth century, the printing industry and the extraction of metals were the only two fields that showed considerable developments. There were a few applications of industrial developments to agricultural production, like making silk textiles from silk worms and wool extracted from sheep. French ports”like Rouen, Marseille, La Rochelle, Saint Malo and Toulon”were the other major source of revenue. Several goods from France were exported through these ports, while others were imported and sold in domestic markets. This is how successful trading businesses helped to bolster the economy throughout the economic history of France.

By end of the sixteenth century and earlier part of seventeenth century, the economic history of France started showing a sharp rise. This was mainly due to the introduction of good administration practices and monetary reforms introduced by King Henry IV of France. Along with economic reforms, King Henry IV also invested in the development of infrastructures that included roads for better transportation and canals for irrigating lands in order to increase agricultural produce. Due to these developments, the economy of France grew stronger because of increased trade and agriculture. After this period, the economic history of France took a downward trend and improved only after the first quarter of the eighteenth century.

From the year 1730, France started gaining better output from the introduction of new techniques in agriculture. These included the use of fertilizers for boosting of crop production and the inclusion of new types of crops in such a manner that there were multiple crops grown in different intervals covering the total span of a year. The industrial sector remained undeveloped until the nineteenth century, regardless of the good developments in agriculture. Industries developed mainly when the necessary funds became available from banking institutions. By the end of the nineteenth century, France had several industrial developments and was ranked as the third most industrialized nation in Europe, behind Germany and Britain.