Four decades of wealth and debt in France

This article illustrates some of the major trends observed since 1978: the rise in national wealth has largely been concentrated in land underlying buildings; households have been the main beneficiaries of the increase in the value of property wealth, while the state’s wealth has increasingly been affected by the rise in public debt; the financial sector has expanded strongly thanks to the expansion in financial services, with a corresponding rise in assets and liabilities; lastly, changes in companies’ financial assets and liabilities have been driven by developments in equities, as a result of cross holdings and higher valuations.