French public debt rose again in the second quarter, reaching the unprecedented level of 3,595.5 billion euros at the end of June, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) announced on Tuesday 29 September.
Measured against overall economic activity, France’s debt also hit a historic high, at 119% of gross domestic product (GDP). You have to go back to 1946 to find a public debt ratio that high. France was then tending to the wounds of the Second World War.