France, once among the EU’s most prosperous nations, is now said to have slipped into "third-world status" after new figures revealed it has firmly into the bloc's second tier.
For the third consecutive year, the country's wealth per capita sits below the EU average and has now fallen beneath that of Cyprus, according to Eurostat data.
The latest figures paint a stark picture - with the EU average set at 100, Germany scores 111, Britain 99, and France just 98.
Meanwhile, Italians have nearly caught up entirely, with GDP per capita at purchasing power parity standing at $59,453 (£43,430) compared to France's $59,683 (£43,601).
Nicolas Baverez, a former senior civil servant, offered a damning assessment in Le Figaro: "Our country has become the Argentina of Europe. France is shut in an infernal spiral that is leading it to third-world status."
The 2026 budget, which the French parliament passed on Monday, has offered little cause for optimism among those hoping for fiscal discipline.
Rather than trimming expenditure, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's government has opted to raise taxes substantially, adding €6.5 billion (£5.6billion) to the burden on wealthy households and €7.3 billion (£6.29billion) to corporate levies.
Public spending, already exceeding €1.7trillion (£1.46trillion) and ranking among the highest in the developed world as a proportion of national wealth, will climb by a further €38billion (£32.79billion) this year.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's government has opted to raise taxes substantially
| GETTYTax revenues are set to reach 43.9 per cent of GDP, up from 43.6 per cent previously.
The French government initially aimed to cut the deficit from 5.4 per cent to 4.7 per cent through spending reductions.
Its revised target of 5 per cent now depends primarily on higher taxation, while national debt of €3.4trillion (£2.93trillion) continues to swell.
Critics have argued that the budget contains precisely the ingredients responsible for France's recent economic failures, with elevated taxation, even higher public spending, and mounting debt to cover the shortfall.
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France's level of public spending is among the highest in the developed world
|GETTY
Frederic Douet, a law professor at Rouen-Normandie University, wrote in Le Figaro: "The slow pauperisation of France is a consequence of policies that are as costly as they are inefficient.
"The mantra of our technocrats and politicians is that tax rises resolve our problems."
The Socialist Party, which secured key concessions from Mr Lecornu including suspension of pension reforms, has effectively shaped the fiscal agenda.
One Socialist MP remarked: "I don't think [Lecornu] imagined giving away so much when he started negotiating with us."
President Emmanuel Macron's decided to call snap parliamentary elections in 2024
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Mr Lecornu himself acknowledged leading the weakest French government in decades, having survived a bizarre episode in which he resigned in October, only a month after his appointment, before being reappointed a week later.
His two predecessors were both ousted while attempting to pass budgets, a consequence of President Emmanuel Macron's decision to call snap parliamentary elections in 2024.
Concern has also grown over the country's demographics, with last year marking the first time since the Second World War that deaths outnumbered births in France, with population growth sustained only through immigration.
Carine Camby, interim chairwoman of the Court of Accounts, warned: "It is urgent to act vigorously to reduce our deficit, to control our expenditure and to stabilise our public debt."
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