France's public debt in 2020 was the equivalent of 116 percent of annual GDP, and the budget deficit amounted to over 9 percent of GDP, "the highest level since 1949," national statistics office Insee said.
GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, is the amount of money the French economy can generate in one year.
In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, French government debt was 98 percent of GDP and the budget deficit slightly more than 3 percent.
212 billion euros public debt
In cash terms, the 2020 public deficit, which includes the balances of the State budget, local authorities and social security administrations, reached 211.5 billion euros compared to 75 billion one year earlier.
The main component, the State budget, more than doubled to 182 billion euros last year, compared with 86 billion in 2019.
The government had expected even worse figures, with a deficit of 11.3 percent and debt of around 120 percent.
The Covid-19 pandemic has battered the French economy which contracted 8.2 percent in 2020, forcing the government to provide massive support to business to avoid bankruptcies and mass job cuts.
(With AFP)
