France debt set for highest level since 1978 as fiscal strain grows

France's debt mountain is growing and will this year be at its highest level since 1978 because of a soaring deficit, the country's finance ministry said at the weekend.

A ministry source told reporters the public debt would reach 119.3% of GDP in 2026 and 121.7% in 2027, more than double the 60% of GDP reference limit EU member countries are required to aim for.

Those figures are unprecedented since 1978, according to France's statistics institute Insee.

The source said the rise in France's debt was "automatic" as "a consequence of a deficit that remains high".

France is the third most indebted country in the eurozone, behind only Greece and Italy. In Spain, debt passed below 100% of GDP in July, and Portugal got its debt to below 90% of GDP in 2025.

Under EU rules, the public deficit - the annual shortfall of revenue to spending - is meant to be no more than 3% of GDP.

But last year, it came in at 5.1% of GDP, and the government forecasts it will hit 5.4% this year.

France, which has been under special EU monitoring for the past two years because of those high figures, expects its deficit to drop to 5% next year - when it holds elections to choose its next president and government.

The government has submitted its draft 2027 budget measures to an independent fiscal watchdog, the High Council of Public Finances (HCFP), to evaluate their viability in macroeconomic terms.