Informations rapides
28 September 2018
2018- n° 257
At the end of Q2 2018, the Maastricht debt accounted for €2,299.8 billion Debt of the general government according to the Maastricht definition - second quarter 2018

At the end of Q2 2018, the Maastricht debt reached €2,299.8 billion, a €5.2 billion increase in comparison to Q1 2018. It accounted for 99.0% of gross domestic product (GDP), 0.3 points lower than last quarter's level. By contrast, the net public debt increased more (€ +14.4 billion).

Informations rapides
No 257
Paru le :Paru le28/09/2018
Prochaine parution le : 25/09/2025 at 08:45 - second quarter 2025
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Warnings: Quarterly debt figures are based on an accounting data source less exhaustive than the annual accounts. Results may therefore be updated during several quarters.

Quarterly debt variations are not equal to the estimated deficit for the current quarter. To obtain the deficit from the change in the Maastricht gross public debt, net acquisitions of financial assets and of liabilities excluded from the Maastricht debt definition must also be taken into consideration, as well as the fact that the Maastricht debt is in nominal value. Moreover, the quarterly deficit published by INSEE is seasonally and trading-day adjusted, which is not the case of the quarterly debt.

This publication takes into account the reclassification of SNCF Réseau as part of the general government from the beginning of the year 2016. For more information, please refer to the press release issued on 6 September 2018: https://www.insee.fr/fr/information/3607979.

The Maastricht debt increased by €5.2 billion compared to the previous quarter

At the end of Q2 2018, the Maastricht debt reached €2,299.8 billion, a €5.2 billion increase in comparison to Q1 2018. It accounted for 99.0% of gross domestic product (GDP), 0.3 points lower than last quarter's level. By contrast, the net public debt increased more (€ +14.4 billion).

State debt went up

In the second quarter of 2018, the State contribution to the debt increased by €19.5 billion. This rise stemmed mainly from long-term negotiable debt (€ +24.9 billion) and to a lesser extent from deposits at the French Treasury (€ +1.7 billion). Short-term negotiable debt diminished (€ −7.1 billion).

Central agencies, local government and social security funds debts went down

In Q2 2018, the central agencies contribution to the debt went down by € 2.0 billion due exclusively to the Caisse nationale des autoroutes (CNA).

Local government contribution to the debt went down more moderately (by € −0.7 billion): municipalities paid off € 0.5 billion, departments and regions both € 0.3 billion. Conversely, other units in local government borrowed € 0.5 billion.

The contribution of social security funds went down sharply (€ −11.7 billion) above all because of CADES (€ −10.8 billion) and to a lesser extent because of ACOSS (€ −1.0 billion), CNAF (€ −0.8 billion), CNAM (€ −0.3 billion) and hospitals (€ −0.1 billion). Conversely, UNEDIC increased its debt (€ +1.3 billion).

GraphIR – General government debt under the Maastricht treaty (% of GDP) (*)

TableauA – General government debt under the Maastricht treaty by sub-sector and by category

(billion euros)
General government debt under the Maastricht treaty by sub-sector and by category ((billion euros)) -
2017Q2 2017Q3 2017Q4 2018Q1 2018Q2
General Government 2,274.0 2,269.2 2,257.8 2,294.6 2,299.8
%of GDP 100.9% 99.8% 98.5% 99.3% 99.0%
of which. by sub-sector :
State 1,783.2 1,788.0 1,768.1 1,808.8 1,828.4
Central agencies 60.6 61.3 61.9 62.1 60.1
Local Government 198.1 196.6 201.5 200.1 199.4
Social security funds 232.1 223.3 226.2 223.6 211.9
of which. by category
Currency and deposits 37.4 38.9 37.4 39.4 41.1
Securities other than shares 1,957.4 1,953.2 1,938.5 1,975.7 1,980.7
short-term 201.8 188.5 170.6 185.5 169.8
long-term 1,755.6 1,764.7 1,768.0 1,790.3 1,810.9
Loans 279.2 277.1 281.8 279.5 278.0
short-term 8.2 7.2 7.0 7.7 7.6
long-term 271.0 269.9 274.8 271.8 270.4
  • (*) Explanations in the box "For more details"
  • Source: National Accounts 2014 basis - Insee. DGFiP. Banque de France

In Q2 2018, the net public debt increased by €14.4 billion

At the end of Q2 2018, the net public debt reached €2,085.0 billion (equivalent to 89.7% of GDP versus 89.6% in Q1 2018), a €14.4 billion increase compared to the previous quarter. The €9.2 billion gap between changes in net and gross debt is explained by a decrease in the cash position of the State (€ −2.9 billion), central agencies (€ −2.2 billion) and social security funds (€ −4.4 billion).

TableauB – General government net debt by sub-sector

(billion euros)
General government net debt by sub-sector ((billion euros)) -
2017Q2 2017Q3 2017Q4 2018Q1 2018Q2
General government 2,041.1 2,040.0 2,054.7 2,070.6 2,085.0
of which :
The State 1,655.6 1,669.2 1,668.6 1,691.2 1,713.7
Central agencies 44.4 45.0 45.5 46.2 46.4
Local government 185.7 184.3 189.4 187.9 187.1
Social security funds 155.4 141.5 151.1 145.3 137.8
  • Source: National Accounts 2014 basis - Insee, DGFiP, Banque de France

Graph_dette_nette – Maastricht gross debt and net debt

The overall value of quoted shares and mutual fund shares held by general government increased again

In Q2 2018, the overall value of quoted shares and mutual fund shares held by general government units went up to €241.6 billion, a €3.3 billion increase compared to Q1 2018.

The quoted shares held by the State increased by €1.9 billion because of the rise in EDF's, Aéroports de Paris's, Safran's and Thales's share prices. The State also transferred €9.3 billion of shares to Bpifrance as part of the Fonds pour l'innovation: these transactions were neutral for general government as a whole.

The value of mutual fund shares increased (€ +1.1 billion) due notably to the acquisitions of the Caisse nationale d'assurance vieillesse des professions libérales for €0.5 billion and UNEDIC for €0.2 billion.

TableauC – General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares

(billion euros)
General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares ((billion euros)) -
2017Q2 2017Q3 2017Q4 2018Q1 2018Q2
General government 223.4 230.6 237.0 238.3 241.6
of which :
The State 58.0 61.1 64.9 66.7 59.3
Central agencies 35.4 36.5 36.3 36.6 46.6
Local government 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Social security funds 129.9 132.9 135.8 134.9 135.7
  • Source: National Accounts 2014 basis - Insee, DGFiP, Banque de France

Graph_F5 – General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares

Documentation

Methodology (pdf,131 Ko)

Quarterly national accounts

Pour en savoir plus

: bureau-de-presse@insee.fr

Publication calendar

Time series : General government debt and deficit as defined by Maastricht

Quaterly national accounts