France vs Germany

France vs Germany: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 115.5% of GDP in France and 62.7% of GDP in Germany, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 52.8 percentage points, or 1.84 times that in Germany.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

France vs Germany: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 115.5% of GDP in France and 62.7% of GDP in Germany, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 52.8 percentage points, or 1.84 times that in Germany.
FranceGermanyIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • France has been higher since 2007, when it overtook Germany.
  • In 2025, France ranked 7 and Germany ranked 51 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts France at 123.6% of GDP and Germany at 75.6% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearFranceGermany
2025115.562.7
2024112.661.4
2023109.561.8
2022111.464.1
2021112.867.4
2020114.967.5
201998.258.4
201898.560.5
201798.863.7
201698.268.1
20159771
201496.274.4
201394.677.4
201291.779.8
201188.878.5
201086.381
200984.172.4
200869.865.2
200765.563.7
200665.466.4
200568.267.1
200466.965
200365.463.3
200261.359.8
200159.358.1
200059.759.2
199961.460.4
199862.159.4
19976258.8
199660.657.7
199557.854.9
199451.647.5
199348.245.1
199241.741.4
199137.839
199036.8–
198935.5–
198834.7–
198734.8–
198632.4–
198531.9–
198430.2–
198327.7–
198226.2–
198122.7–
198021.3–
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearFranceGermany
2026118.564.6
2027120.467
2028121.769.3
2029122.671.5
2030123.273.6
2031123.675.6

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • What the government owes, as a share of the economy’s yearly output.
  • Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
  • The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
  • Ranks count the 149 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

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