Industry output in France lost ground in December as the electrical and textile industry dragged down the country's overall production by 1.4 percent from a month earlier.
The national statistics bureau Insee added manufacturing activities fell also by 1.4 percent over the period.
France, one of the world's leading exporters of manufactured goods, saw production of electric and electronic businesses drop 3.2 percent while output of textile and leather was down 2.9 percent.
A 2-percent decrease was reported in construction while car manufacturing also registered a 1.4-percent fall.
Meanwhile, quarterly figures were positive as industry production rose by 0.6 percent in the last quarter of 2011 from the same period a year ago, with manufacturing output rising by 2.1 percent.
France was the world's sixth-largest exporter and the fourth-largest importer of manufactured goods last year, according to the World Trade Organization./.