Interest payments in France

France: Interest payments was 4.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
4.2%
Change on year
up 11.2%
World rank
98th
of 155 countries
All-time high
7.2%
in 1994
All-time low
1.2%
in 1973
Years of data
53
1972–2024

Interest payments in France, 1972–2024

2468197219982024

Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of revenue.

Analysis

France recorded 4.2% for interest payments in 2024.

The figure is up 11.2% on the previous year and down 10.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, interest payments in France peaked at 7.2% in 1994 and was at its lowest, 1.2%, in 1973.

That places France 98th out of 155 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 53 years of available data.

Interest payments in France, year by year

Annual values for Interest payments (% of revenue) in France, 1972 to 2024.
Year % of revenue Change
1972 1.4%
1973 1.2% -16.3%
1974 1.3% +11.8%
1975 2.2% +68.2%
1976 1.8% -14.8%
1977 2.0% +9.2%
1978 2.2% +8.7%
1979 2.3% +5.0%
1980 2.1% -9.3%
1981 3.2% +53.4%
1982 3.3% +1.7%
1983 4.3% +31.4%
1984 4.4% +2.3%
1985 4.7% +7.6%
1986 4.8% +1.7%
1987 4.5% -5.8%
1988 4.4% -2.5%
1989 4.7% +6.5%
1990 5.2% +11.1%
1991 5.4% +3.9%
1992 6.1% +13.3%
1993 6.8% +10.6%
1994 7.2% +5.3%
1995 6.9% -3.1%
1996 7.1% +2.3%
1997 7.1% -0.2%
1998 6.9% -2.2%
1999 6.4% -7.3%
2000 6.4% -0.7%
2001 6.3% -0.8%
2002 6.5% +2.2%
2003 6.3% -3.1%
2004 6.1% -2.2%
2005 6.0% -1.5%
2006 5.7% -6.3%
2007 5.8% +2.4%
2008 6.1% +4.9%
2009 5.6% -7.0%
2010 5.7% +0.5%
2011 6.0% +6.0%
2012 5.7% -5.2%
2013 5.0% -12.9%
2014 4.7% -5.0%
2015 4.4% -6.7%
2016 4.2% -5.5%
2017 3.9% -7.3%
2018 3.8% -0.5%
2019 3.3% -13.2%
2020 2.8% -14.8%
2021 3.1% +8.5%
2022 4.2% +35.0%
2023 3.8% -8.5%
2024 4.2% +11.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 1.8% 1.2% 2.3% 8
1980s 4.0% 2.1% 4.8% 10
1990s 6.5% 5.2% 7.2% 10
2000s 6.1% 5.6% 6.5% 10
2010s 4.7% 3.3% 6.0% 10
2020s 3.6% 2.8% 4.2% 5

Countries ranked near France

  1. 95 New Zealand 4.7% compare
  2. 96 Belgium 4.5% compare
  3. 97 Mongolia 4.3% compare
  4. 99 Central African Republic 4.2% compare
  5. 100 Croatia 4.2% compare
  6. 101 Belarus 4.2% compare

See the full ranking of 196 places →

More public sector data for France

All data for France →

Frequently asked questions

What is interest payments in France?
Interest payments in France was 4.2% in 2024, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
What is the highest interest payments recorded in France?
The highest recorded value was 7.2% in 1994.
What is the lowest interest payments recorded in France?
The lowest recorded value was 1.2% in 1973.
How does France rank for interest payments?
France ranks 98th out of 155 countries with data for 2024.
Is interest payments rising or falling in France?
Over the last ten years it is down 10.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this France data come from?
The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Interest payments (% of revenue). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 53 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Interest payments in France. Statizoid, drawing on Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Retrieved 31 August 2026, from https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/interest-payments-percent-of-revenue/france/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/interest-payments-percent-of-revenue/france/">Interest payments in France</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Interest payments (% of revenue)
Unit
% of revenue
Source
Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
196 places, 5,564 data points, 1972–2024
Last refreshed

Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of revenue which includes all transactions that add to the amount of economic value of a unit or sector.