What is mercantilism?

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Mercantilism is an economic practice by which governments used their economies to augment state power at the expense of other countries.
Governments sought to ensure that exports exceeded imports and to accumulate wealth in the form of bullion (mostly gold and silver).
In mercantilism, wealth is viewed as finite and trade as a zero-sum game.
Mercantilism was the prevalent economic system in the Western world from the 16th to the 18th century.