France's Statistics Institute Bureau Insee announced Thursday the consumer prices index (CPI) fell by 0.3 percent in September after had risen by 0.7 percent from a month earlier.

Adjusted for seasonal variations, the monthly change was stable. The index also rose by 1.9 percent on monthly basis.

September inflation fall stemmed mainly from a 1.5 percent decrease in services prices, including transportation and tourism costs, following "the seasonal drop of prices of the holidays accommodation, package holidays, rents of holiday residence, and other services including passenger transport by air or by sea," Insee said in its monthly report.

Prices of petroleum products went down by 0.5 over the period pulling energy costs to decline slightly by 0.3 percent while those of manufacturing goods were expanded by 1.4 percent boosted by summer sales, it added.

French officials set inflation rate at 2 percent for the whole year of 2012.