France’s public debt increases (again) and exceeds 3,300 billion euros

This is an unprecedented amount that France could do without. France’s public debt further swelled in the third quarter of 2024, standing at 113.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of last September compared to 112.2% at the end of last June, INSEE indicated on Friday December 20. From July to September 2024, the debt increased by 71.7 billion euros, to reach a total of 3,303 billion euros, said the National Institute of Statistics.

The increase in public administration debt is mainly due to the State, whose debt increases by 59.8 billion euros, to 2,690.5 billion after +70 billion in the previous quarter. The debt of various central administration bodies (ODAC), described as “stable” by INSEE, increases by 200 million euros to 69.4 billion. The debt of Social Security administrations also increases (+10.4 billion after +4 billion), to 290.8 billion, as does that of local authorities (+1.3 billion euros to 252.2 billion), then that it had fallen by 300 million in the second quarter.

An economy slowed by uncertainty

French public debt, which remained confined to between 60% and 70% of GDP at the start of the 2000s, experienced an initial surge after the 2008 crisis. It stabilized around 100% at the end of the 2010s, before a second dazzling restart due to massive spending by “whatever it costs” linked to the Covid-19 health crisis.

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