The fall of 1.1% masks variations across Europe, including a rise of 3.1% in the UK.
However, the figures from Eurostat show that, when compared to February 2015, output grew by 2.5% in the Eurozone and 2.3% across the EU28.
In January, production had grown by 2.4% in the Eurozone and by 0.9% in the EU28 compared to the previous month. February’s monthly decrease of 1.1% in the euro area is due to building construction falling by 1.5%, while civil engineering grew by 0.9%.
In the EU28, the decrease of 0.4% is due to building construction falling by 0.5%, while civil engineering grew by 0.3%.
Among member states with available data, the largest decreases were recorded in France (-6.0%), Sweden (-5.1%) and Slovenia (-4.1%), and the highest increases in Romania (+5.1%), the United Kingdom (+3.1%) and Bulgaria (+2.7%).
The increase of 2.5% in production in construction in the Euro area in February 2016, compared with February 2015, is due to building construction rising by 2.8% and civil engineering by 1.3%.
In the EU28, the increase of 2.3% is due to building construction rising by 2.9%, while civil engineering fell by 1.4%.
The highest increases in production in construction were recorded in Slovakia (+18.8%), Spain (+13.0%) and Sweden (+11.3%), and the largest decreases in Slovenia (-30.8%), Hungary (-19.3%) and Poland (-10.1%).
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