French inflation dropped for a third month in a row in May, thanks to falling energy and service costs, the country's Statistics Institute Bureau Insee said on Wednesday.

According to the Paris-based statistic office, the consumer prices index (CPI), a key gauge for inflation, slipped by 0.1 percent in May from a month ago in France.

"In May... the increases and decreases offset each other: prices of energy and services of transport and communication went down, while prices of food products and tourist services went up," Insee said in its monthly economic report.

Energy costs fell by 1.5 percent with prices of fuel products losing 2.5 percent due to "the decline of fuel products rates." Service costs, including transportation and communication prices, also inched down by 0.1 percent.

However, the price decreases were offset by a 0.6-percent increase in food prices. Prices of manufactured products grew slightly.

Year on year, French consumer prices rose 2.3 percent from the same month in 2011 based on European Union methodology, compared with a 2.4-percent increase in April.

French officials set the country's inflation rate at 1.7 percent for the whole year of 2012.