France's Statistics Institute Bureau, Insee, announced Tuesday the consumer prices index (CPI) inched down by 0.1 percent in July on a drop in manufacturing costs.

Last month, a 13.9-percent drop in clothing and footwear due to summer sales pulled down prices of manufactured products to 2.8 percent, Insee's figures showed.

This decrease was partly offset by a rebound in services prices after 8.7-percent growth in transport helped to boost the sector's performance during summer holidays.

At the end of July, food prices recovered slightly while those of energy decelerated to 0.5 percent, according to the monthly economic report.