French national debt under presidents Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande and Macron: a look at the numbers

French national debt under presidents Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande and Macron: a look at the numbers

French national debt has grown steadily over the last 30 years. It is the sum of all public deficits accumulated since the mid-1970s. To compare the amount of national debt to the government’s financing capacity, it is expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) – debt-to-GDP ratio – which indicates how many years of wealth creation (GDP) are needed to repay it. Under Jacques Chirac, the debt rose from €663.5 billion to €1,211.4 bi…