🇫🇷🆚🇩🇪 France's debt has reached 119% of GDP, a record since World War II, while Germany's is at 64%.

🇫🇷🆚🇩🇪 France's debt has reached 119% of GDP, a record since World War II, while Germany's is at 64%.

The two started out about 60% together with the launch of the euro, but diverged sharply after 2010.

Germany's constitutional debt brake enforced balanced budgets and primary surpluses, lowering its ratio from 81% to 59% by 2019.

France has not recorded a surplus since 1974.

The deficit in 2025 was ~5.1%; The debt is expected to be ~122% by 2027 without major cuts.

Prime Minister LeCorno has proposed €54 billion in savings, but a fragmented parliament makes the transition uncertain.

Germany, meanwhile, is loosening its debt brake a bit for defense, a position of strength that France no longer has.