July consumer prices index in France down 0.4%

France's consumer prices index (CPI) decreased by 0.4 percent at the end of July from a month earlier mainly due to seasonal falls in manufactured goods, data released by statistics bureau Insee showed Thursday.

Adjusted for seasonal variations, there was no monthly change to the index. Year on year, it rose 0.2 percent.

The July price fall stemmed mainly from a 3.1 percent decline in manufactured goods due to a sharp decrease in clothing and footwear prices which shrunk 14.4 percent due to summer sales, Insee's monthly report showed.

Following a continued drop in petroleum product prices, energy costs lost momentum over the period with a 1.2 percent fall.

Last month, food prices were down 0.5 percent after they had risen 0.4 percent in June while prices of fresh foodstuffs fell 4.1 percent on seasonal decreases.

The French government expects the 2015 inflation rate to reach 0.9 percent.