French President Emmanuel Macron has declined Interior Minister Laurent Nunez's offer to resign following nationwide demonstrations that descended into widespread riots and looting over the weekend.

The Elysee presidential office said Macron asked Nunez to remain in his post to maintain the chain of command within the police and security forces. The president also instructed the interior minister to establish new methods for dealing with looters.

Macron further asked Nunez to "take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence," according to an Elysee statement issued on Monday.

Nunez acknowledged on Monday that police "lost control" during the protests.

"On Saturday in some major cities, you couldn't look shopkeepers in the eye after hundreds of shops had been looted and tell them we hadn't lost control," Nunez said.

The interior minister admitted a "lack of anticipation" in the deployment of security forces, saying their numbers were insufficient to deal with the large crowds of rioters and looters on the fringes of the demonstrations. He estimated that 60,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed across the country on Saturday.

"Given the damage that has been caused, it was only right that I should hand in my resignation," Nunez said.

The Ministry of the Interior said more than 2,300 people were arrested and almost 1,000 police and gendarmes were injured during Saturday's protests. Injuries were also reported among demonstrators, with one protester's hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade.

More than half a million people took part in the nationwide demonstrations on Saturday. Looting, arson and property damage occurred in many cities, with masked rioters attacking town halls, police stations and other government buildings.

Looting continued on Sunday. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said on Monday that around 30 shops had been targeted in the capital the previous day, describing the scenes as "unbearable." Nunez said approximately 350 people were arrested in Paris on Sunday and overnight.

Nationwide, more than 2,330 people were taken into police custody over the weekend, 70 percent of whom were adults, according to Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin.

The demonstrations brought together students demanding better conditions in the French education system and residents protesting against the high cost of living and faltering public services. The violent weekend unrest followed weeks of protests by high school students against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and underinvestment in education, described as the biggest youth-led protest movement in the country in recent memory.