France vs United Kingdom

France vs United Kingdom: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 115.5% of GDP in France and 102.1% of GDP in United Kingdom, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 13.4 percentage points, or 1.13 times that in United Kingdom.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

France vs United Kingdom: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 115.5% of GDP in France and 102.1% of GDP in United Kingdom, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 13.4 percentage points, or 1.13 times that in United Kingdom.
FranceUnited KingdomIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • France has been higher since 1989, when it overtook United Kingdom.
  • In 2025, France ranked 7 and United Kingdom ranked 12 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts France at 123.6% of GDP and United Kingdom at 100.2% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearFranceUnited Kingdom
2025115.5102.1
2024112.699.4
2023109.598.3
2022111.497.1
2021112.8103
2020114.9104.4
201998.284.5
201898.585.3
201798.885.9
201698.287.2
20159787.3
201496.286.4
201394.684.8
201291.784
201188.881
201086.375.5
200984.164.6
200869.850.7
200765.543.1
200665.442.1
200568.241
200466.939.8
200365.436.8
200261.335.5
200159.335
200059.737.7
199961.440.5
199862.142
19976244.1
199660.643.7
199557.843.7
199451.640.8
199348.238
199241.733.3
199137.828.5
199036.828.5
198935.532.6
198834.737.1
198734.839.3
198632.441.4
198531.941.4
198430.242.3
198327.741.9
198226.243.1
198122.744.9
198021.342.7
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearFranceUnited Kingdom
2026118.5102
2027120.4102.5
2028121.7102.3
2029122.6101.6
2030123.2100.9
2031123.6100.2

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 United Kingdom

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