Editing Napoleon III (section)

====Economic expansion and social change====
By the 1860s, the huge state investment in railways, infrastructure and fiscal policies of Napoleon III had brought dramatic changes to the French economy and French society. French people travelled in greater numbers, more often and farther than they had ever travelled before. The opening of the first public school libraries by Napoleon III and the opening by [[Louis Hachette]] of the first bookstores in Napoleon's new train stations led to the wider circulation of books around France.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|p=304}}

During the Empire, industrial production increased by 73 percent, growing twice as rapidly as that of the United Kingdom, though its total output remained lower. From 1850 to 1857, the French economy grew at a pace of five percent a year and exports grew by sixty percent between 1855 and 1869.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|pp=306–307}}

French agricultural production increased by sixty percent, spurred by new farming techniques taught at the agricultural schools started in each [[Departments of France|Department]] by Napoleon III, and new markets opened by the railways. The threat of famine, which for centuries had haunted the French countryside, receded. The last recorded famine in France was in 1855.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|pp=306–307}}

During the Empire, the migration of the rural population to the cities increased. The portion of the population active in agriculture dropped from 61 percent in 1851 to 54 percent in 1870.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|p=309}}

The average salary of French workers grew by 45 percent during the Second Empire, but only kept up with price inflation. On the other hand, more French people than ever were able to save money; the number of bank accounts grew from 742,889 in 1852 to 2,079,141 in 1870.{{Sfn|Séguin|1990|p=309}}