Public debt of France widened by 72.4 billion euros (91 billion U.S. dollars) to stand at 1.789 trillion euros by the end of the first quarter this year, official figures showed on Friday.

The debt ratio to the gross domestic product (GDP) also went up by 3.3 percentage points to 89.3 percent over the period, the national statistics bureau, Insee said in its report.

First quarter's increase in public debt was due to a rise in French government debt and social security funds, the report added.

Net debt of the French government amounted to 1.59 trillion euros, up by 17.9 billion euros, or about 79.3 percent of the GDP compared to 78.8 percent in the previous three months. (1 euro = 1.257 U.S. dollar)