Industry output in France lost ground in May by 1.7 percent from a month earlier, official data showed on Thursday.
The country's overall production was dragged down as coke and refined petroleum products and manufacturing of transport equipment, Insee, the national statistics bureau said, adding that manufacturing activities declined by 2.3 percent over the period.
France, one of the world's leading exporters of manufactured goods, saw production of coke and refined petroleum goods shrink by 8.4 percent while output of transport equipment was down 3.5 percent.
A 2.9-percent decrease was reported in electrical and electronic businesses while mining activities recorded a positive trend after growing by 1.3-percent fall.
For the three months through May, the figures were also negative as industry production lost 1 percent from the same period a year ago, with manufacturing output falling by 0.9 percent.