France: Deficit-to-GDP Ratio Continues to Rise

The French government of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced that it is “forced” to revise the deficit-to-GDP ratio upward again for 2024, bringing the estimate to 5.1% from the previously expected 4.4%. A deficit is the difference between government revenues and expenditures when the latter exceed the former. According to the parameters set by the European Union, the maximum ceiling on the ratio of this deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) should not exceed 3 percent.

The deficit-to-GDP ratio, which France is totally unable to keep under control, represents one of the most important “goals” of the Community economic policy.

According to updated figures released April 9 by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), France’s deficit-to-GDP ratio in 2023 was actually 5.5%, not 4.9% “announced by Paris” “based on preliminary data.” More specifically, France’s deficit-to-GDP ratio reached €154 billion in 2023 and will keep rising in 2024.

As Les Echos newspaper wrote, the French government’s proposed plan to reduce the budget deficit to around 5% in 2024 “will be totally insufficient.” The European Union, trying to keep its member states’ accounts under control, has set a maximum deficit ceiling of 3%, calculated not in absolute terms but in relation to the gross domestic product or wealth produced by each member country. However, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire continues to promise the European Commission that the deficit/GDP will fall below 3% in 2027 when President Emmanuel Macron’s term expires.