Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Europe in recent weeks, angry at rising living costs, low wages, unaffordable housing and underfunded schools.
Protests in France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal have sometimes descended into clashes, looting and fires, although many protests have remained peaceful.
France has been at the centre of the unrest. More than 550,000 people demonstrated nationwide on Saturday, according to the Interior Ministry, amid weeks of student protests over education and living costs.
The unrest has turned the spotlight on a fiscal squeeze that governments are struggling to control. Years of heavy borrowing have left many European countries deeply in debt, and that debt is getting more expensive.
France’s borrowing costs are the highest since 2002, and the more governments spend on interest, the less they have for the schools, hospitals and pensions that protesters want.
In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera looks at how governments borrow, where France ranks among the most indebted countries, and the trillions that governments spend on interest.
How do governments borrow money?
Governments borrow money much like people do, but instead of going to a bank, they sell bonds.
In return, the government pays the buyers interest and promises to repay the full amount on a set date.
A 10-year bond is a loan the government pays back after a decade. Its yield – the return investors earn for lending – is the most closely watched measure of how much markets trust a country to manage its debt.
Here’s how it works:
- The government borrows money – An investor pays €100 for a 10-year bond.
- The government pays interest – Every year for 10 years, the investor receives a fixed payment. At 2.5 percent, that’s €2.50 a year, or €25 in total. At 5 percent, it’s €5 a year, or €50 in total.
- The government repays the loan – After 10 years, the investor gets the original €100 back.
What happens when borrowing gets more expensive?
When bond prices fall, yields rise, making borrowing more expensive. Like a family facing a higher mortgage rate, a government then spends more on interest and has less money for essentials, such as schools, hospitals and roads.
Ten-year borrowing costs for major European economies have not been as high as 5 percent since the early 2000s, shortly after the euro was launched.
During the eurozone debt crisis of 2010 to 2012, only struggling countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain paid that much or more, and yields above 7 percent pushed Ireland and Portugal into bailouts.
France now pays around 5 percent to borrow for 10 years, compared with 3.41 percent for Germany. The widening gap shows investors want a higher return for lending to France.
The chart below shows 10-year borrowing costs across the euro area and the UK. France now pays more than Italy and Greece, two of the countries hit hardest by the eurozone debt crisis. Only the UK, which is outside the euro, pays more.
Which countries are most in debt?
The United States has by far the largest government debt, at $41.4 trillion, or 127 percent of its economy, or gross domestic product (GDP). The US benefits from borrowing in dollars, the world’s dominant reserve currency, which supports global demand for its debt. But its borrowing capacity is not unlimited.
China follows with $22.5 trillion, or 104 percent of GDP, while Japan owes $8.7 trillion and has the highest debt ratio among major economies, at 199 percent of GDP. The UK’s debt stands at $4.4 trillion, or 102 percent of GDP.
France ranks fifth globally, with debt of $4.2 trillion, or 118.5 percent of GDP. That is more than Italy’s $3.7 trillion, although Italy’s debt is larger relative to its economy, at 138 percent. Germany owes $3.5 trillion, just 65 percent of GDP.
The IMF projects France’s public debt to rise to 121.8 percent of GDP by 2030, complicating efforts to put the country’s public finances on a sustainable path.
The table below ranks countries by government debt. Use the search box to find yours.
The $3.3 trillion interest bill
Global debt, including that of governments, households and companies, rose by $10 trillion in the first half of 2026 to more than $365 trillion, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF). That is roughly $44,000 for every person on Earth. Much of the increase came from emerging markets.
Paying for that debt is costly. Advanced economies paid more than $3.3 trillion in interest on their government bonds over the past year. That is more than the world spends on defence ($3.1 trillion), artificial intelligence ($2.6 trillion) or clean energy ($2.3 trillion).
For the public, rising interest costs mean less money for services such as schools, hospitals and pensions. Governments may have to raise taxes or cut spending to cover the bill. Higher government borrowing costs can also push up interest rates on mortgages, car loans and credit cards.
