PARIS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- France's Statistics Institute Bureau, Insee announced Thursday the consumer prices index (CPI) fell by 0.1 percent in January from a month earlier.
The January price fall stemmed mainly from a 2.2 percent decline in manufactured goods, pulled down by 12 percent decrease in clothing prices due to winter sales, Insee monthly report showed.
"The decline is largely the result of a seasonal downturn in manufactured product prices due to winter sales, and a drop in transport prices," it said.
However, "the monthly downturn was mitigated by a sharp acceleration in energy prices and a rise in food prices," it added.
"Due to a rise in energy taxation," prices of petroleum products jumped by 7.1 percent with the total energy costs grew by 4.7 percent last month from December data.
The CPI, a key gauge of inflation, reported 1.3-percent increase year-on-year.
