Domestic demand, the main force driving the French economy which is the second-biggest in the eurozone, fell 0.4 percent in January after a drop of 0.2 percent in December, the national statistics agency INSEE said on Wednesday.
On a 12-month basis, household spending was 2.2 percent lower in January.
The drop was attributed to a decline in spending on manufactured goods, in particular on cars, which fell by 7.6 percent, the data showed.
France's economy grew by only 1.7 percent last year, despite better than expected fourth-quarter figures, and a government austerity programme designed to control its large public deficit has shaken public confidence.
High unemployment and declining confidence in the 17-nation eurozone have also dampened French sentiment.
The government has forecast growth of 0.5 percent this year, slightly better than an estimate by the European Commission.
"All in all, this is a weak start to the quarter, and the deepening downward trend seen in each month since the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2011 bodes ill for private consumption momentum in the first quarter of 2012," Barclays Capital economist Francois Cabau commented in a research note.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012