First, I will go through each population level and its corresponding production chains. Each chain is briefly described, along with the optimal building ratios for a fully efficient production setup.

At the end, you will find a list of all production facilities and the number of inhabitants they can support. Understanding this table is crucial when playing against skilled opponents.

I personally found it challenging to gather this information while playing the game. Given the lack of guides for this 18-year-old title on Steam, I decided to create one myself.

The basic premise of the first population level is to set a baseline for your upcoming kingdom. Because of this, all the product chains are pretty straightforward.

The first building material you can acquire. The lumberjack has no placement requirements. For a fully efficient wood production, you need the following:
1 Lumberjack

This setup will produce 3 tons in one minute.

Fishing is the easiest source of food for your people. The fisherman's hut must be placed on a shore and near a fishing ground. For a fully efficient fish production, you need the following:
1 Fisherman's Hut

This setup will produce 1 ton in one minute, which will satisfy 125 people.

Hunting has been the source of food for mankind for thousands of years. There are no requirements regarding the placement of the building. For fully efficient meat production, you need the following:
1 Hunting Lodge

This setup will produce 1 ton in one minute, which will satisfy 125 people.
Hint: The area of a hunting lodge and a lumberjack can overlap without a decrease in production.

Cloth requires wool produced by a sheep farm. There are no restrictions regarding the placement of any of the buildings. For a fully efficient cloth production, you need the following:
2 Sheep Farms
1 Weaver's Hut

This setup will produce 2 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 400 pioneers, settlers and citizens / 450 merchants / 500 aristocrats.

The second population level will provide you with all the resources you need to conquer the map. All basic necessities are harder to come by, and it is recommended that you build a brick factory as soon as you reach settlers.

This is the most important new product chain when it comes to settlers. Brick factories require a clay pit in their area to make bricks. For a fully efficient brick production, you need the following:
1 Clay pit
2 Brick factories

This setup will produce 6 tons in one minute.

The meat production chain is an efficient way to generate food fast. A Butcher's shop requires cattle from a cattle farm. There are no restrictions regarding the placement of any of the buildings. For a fully efficient meat production, you need the following:
2 Cattle Farms
1 Butcher's Shop

This setup will produce 3 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 375 people.

A tobacco processing plant requires tobacco from a tobacco plantation. Tobacco can only be grown on certain islands. For a fully efficient tobacco production, you need the following:
2 Tobacco Plantations
1 Tobacco Processing Plant

This setup will produce 2 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 665 people.

The alcohol production chain can be realized in two ways. Depending on the available crop on the island, either hop or sugar cane can be used to make alcohol. Both production chains are equal in price and output. For a fully efficient alcohol production, you need the following:
2 Hop Plantations
1 Brewery
or
2 Sugar Cane Plantations
1 Distillery

This setup will produce 2 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 400 settlers and citizens / 470 merchants / 530 aristocrats.

The tool production chain is the most complicated one regarding settlers. It requires an ore mine wich can only be build on certain islands. For a fully efficient tool production, you need the following:
1 Ore Mine
1 Lumberjack
1 Smelter
2 Tool Makers

This setup will produce 6 tons in one minute.

The weapon production chain is built on the foundation of the tool production. It requires an ore mine wich can only be build on certain islands. For a fully efficient weapon production, you need the following:
1 Ore Mine
2 Lumberjack
1 Smelter
2 Weapon Smiths

This setup will produce 6 tons in one minute.

With the third population level, you will finally be able to unlock cannons to increase your sea superiority. Your new population level is more selective and will make some of your trade routes extra ordinary.

Lamp oil production is the easiest to set up. Lamp oil production requires whalers, which can only be placed near a whale recource, which is limited to certain islands in the northern part of the map. For a fully efficient lamp oil production, you need the following:
1 Whaler
3 Lamp Oil Manufactories

This setup will produce 6 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 3000 people.

Bread making is a very efficient way to produce large amounts of food (6 times as productive as fisher huts). It requires wheat, which can only be found on certain islands. For a fully efficient bread production, you need the following:
4 Grain Farms
2 Mills
1 Bakery

This setup will produce 6 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 750 people.

Chocolate production is the last food type your people will want. It requires honey and cocoa crops, both of which can only be found on certain islands, usually far apart. For a fully efficient chocolates production, you need the following:
2 Apiaries
2 Cocoa Plantations
1 Confectionary

This setup will produce 2 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 1000 people.

Finally.. Canons! All you need to destroy your opponents! The production of canons is the same as the production of weapons. It requires an ore mine wich can only be build on certain islands. For a fully efficient canon production, you need the following:
1 Ore Mine
2 Lumberjack
1 Smelter
2 Canon Foundries

This setup will produce 6 tons in one minute.

With the fourth population tier, it is finally time to earn some money and build up quite the army with your newly unlocked skill of breeding horses.

The last of the four building materials present in Anno 1701 - marble. Described in the campaign as "The only stone worthy of building libraries with.". Marble can only be mined through marble mines, which can only be found on certain islands. For a fully efficient marble production, you need the following:
1 Marble quarry
2 Marble Stonemasons

This setup will produce 6 tons in one minute.

Making jewelry is pretty straightforward compared to some of the previous production chains. The only hard thing is finding a deep deposit of gold and gems for a steddy supply of jewellery. For a fully efficient jewellery production, you need the following:
1 Gold mine
1 Gem mine
2 Goldsmiths

This setup will produce 4 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 2760 people.

Perfumery is the most complex production chain in Anno 1701. It requires resources and plants from often different islands. There are restrictions on placing whalers near whaling grounds and greenhouses on islands corresponding to their crop. For a fully efficient perfume production, you need the following:
1 Whaler
3 Ambergris Productions
12 Greenhouses
6 Perfumeries

Note: This graphic does not represent the fully efficient production chain!
A singular Perfumerie will produce 2 tons in one minute, which will satisfy 1000 people.

The last population tier does not bring any new goods.

Note: This information is taken entirely from [2].

1. Infromation abt the product chains from the german Anno 1701 Wiki [1701.annowiki.de]
   
2. Many numbers were taken from this [gamefaqs.gamespot.com]walkthrough.
   
3. The purple Anno 1701 History Edition picture used as a background for the graphics from the Anno Union[www.anno-union.com]

I would love to hear from anyone who has used this guide! This was the first guide I made for a game that averages 37 players a day... But still! Maybe it helped someone.