“The most taxed people in the world without the best public services”: Sarah Knafo is right about the weight of taxes in France, but her calculations on health raise questions

Far-right MEP Sarah Knafo (Reconquête!) said this morning, speaking to BFMTV/RMC: "We all have the feeling of spending a lot, but of not receiving anything in return." “We are the most taxed people in the world, but we do not have the best public services in return,” also added the Reconquest!

With compulsory taxes reaching 46% of GDP in 2025, according to the latest Eurostat study, France is well at the top of the ranking of European countries with the most taxes. A ranking which can be explained by an increase in tax revenue and social security contributions, which generated an additional 23 billion euros. However, at the global level, it is difficult to have an overview, since the OECD data has not been updated since 2024.

However, a trend can be highlighted: on labor taxation (in 2025), France is placed in 3rd position, behind Belgium and Germany. France thus regained in 2025 the first European place which it had ceded to Denmark in 2024. The weight of taxes and social contributions in French GDP increased from 45.1% in 2024 to 46% in 2025, an increase of 0.9 points in one year.

An increase which can be explained in particular by the tax increases decided to restore public finances, with an exceptional contribution to the profits of large companies, increased taxation of high incomes and a reduction in certain reductions in employer contributions. These measures represented around 23 billion euros in additional levies. More broadly, tax revenues have increased more quickly than the wealth produced in the country, mechanically increasing their weight in GDP.

At the same time, Denmark saw its tax rate decline, allowing France to return to the top of the ranking. New attack against the cost of the French social model In this extract, Sarah Knafo once again attacks the cost of the French social model. She states: “[An employee] spends 500 euros per month [in contributions] for their health.

This money will pass through a lot of administrations, through the health insurance fund, through Urssaf. Then he will arrive at the hospital and when he arrives at the hospital, there are a third of the functions which are administrative functions. (...

) And at the end there will only be 134 euros left of his health contribution. "The amount of 500 euros per month put forward by Sarah Knafo is difficult to verify in the absence of details on the contributions taken into account. For a paid employee 2.

Machine-translated from French