France vs Nigeria

France vs Nigeria: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 115.5% of GDP in France and 36.1% of GDP in Nigeria, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 79.4 percentage points, or 3.2 times that in Nigeria.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

France vs Nigeria: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 115.5% of GDP in France and 36.1% of GDP in Nigeria, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 79.4 percentage points, or 3.2 times that in Nigeria.
FranceNigeriaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • France has been higher since 1994, when it overtook Nigeria.
  • In 2025, France ranked 7 and Nigeria ranked 114 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts France at 123.6% of GDP and Nigeria at 31.9% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearFranceNigeria
2025115.536.1
2024112.639.3
2023109.536.3
2022111.429.8
2021112.826.6
2020114.925.7
201998.221.4
201898.520.4
201798.818
201698.217.4
20159714.9
201496.215.8
201394.613
201291.712.5
201188.812.4
201086.36.7
200984.16.1
200869.85.2
200765.55.8
200665.46.7
200568.213.5
200466.925.2
200365.429.9
200261.330.7
200159.337.7
200059.740.9
199961.446.1
199862.115.8
19976217.1
199660.617.9
199557.824.2
199451.639.7
199348.250.4
199241.749.8
199137.853.2
199036.850.9
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
YearFranceNigeria
2026118.534.7
2027120.432.8
2028121.732.9
2029122.632.5
2030123.232.2
2031123.631.9

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

France vs Nigeria

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