Best economy systems and trade routes in No Man's Sky
How No Man's Sky economies work: the seven economy types, the two trade loops, wealth tiers, and how to find a rich, safe system to trade in.
The seven economies
Every inhabited system has one economy, shown in the system's details before you even land. There are seven, and the galaxy holds them in equal shares: on one million systems predicted, each one is 14.3 % of systems.
- Trading, also shown as mercantile, shipping or commercial.
- Advanced materials, also alchemical, material fusion or metal processing.
- Scientific, also research, experimental or mathematical.
- Mining, also ore extraction, prospecting or minerals.
- Manufacturing, also industrial, construction or mass production.
- Technology, also high tech, nano-construction or engineering.
- Power generation, also energy supply, fuel generation or high voltage.
The economy page of the Observatory lists every name the game uses, with how often each one appears.
The two trade loops
Trade goods follow two loops. A system sells what its economy makes, cheap, and the next economy of the loop buys it, dear.
- CAR loop: Trading, then Advanced materials, then Scientific, then back to Trading.
- ITEM loop: Mining, then Manufacturing, then Technology, then Power generation, then back to Mining.
Buy in one economy, warp to the next one of its loop, sell. The best margins come with a buy price near -30 % and a sell price near +80 %, both shown in the trade terminal.
Wealth: one, two or three stars
The economy's strength is its wealth tier, from struggling to prosperous. A strong economy has more stock and better prices. On the predicted million:
- Tier 1, low: 24.5 %. Shown as destitute, declining, failing, struggling, fledgling, low supply.
- Tier 2, medium: 66.0 %. Shown as balanced, comfortable, developing, promising, sustainable, medium supply.
- Tier 3, high: 9.5 %. Shown as affluent, booming, flourishing, opulent, prosperous, wealthy, advanced, high supply.
About one system in ten is tier 3. These are the systems players look for when they want the best trade, the best ships and the best technology in stations.
Rich and safe
Conflict is spread evenly over rich systems: among tier 3 systems, low, medium and high conflict each make about a third. A rich and peaceful system is common enough to be worth looking for. Poorer systems lean the other way: low wealth comes with low conflict nearly twice as often as with high conflict.
About 7.9 % of systems are pirate controlled, with their own station and their own rules. See the conflict page.
Find a trade route on this site
- Trade routes: the trade page ranks the best hops recorded in Euclid, inside a region and between regions, for both loops.
- The Oracle: ask "rich trading system near" a region, or "trade route", at the Oracle.
- Wealth and conflict: browse wealth levels and conflict levels.
Prices change in the game as you trade. The routes shown here come from what travellers recorded, so check the terminal before you buy in bulk.
Last updated: 1 November 2026