Brussels, 14/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The construction sector both in the euro zone and the EU-25 registered a 0.5% rise in the fourth quarter of 2005, compared with the previous quarter. Compared with the same period in 2004, the rise was 1.6% in the euro zone and 1.8% in the EU-25. From the available data, production in the construction sector increased from one quarter to another in seventeen Member States, with Ireland (+5.9%) at the head, and decreased in four others, including Portugal (-5.7%) and Slovenia (-0.7%). It increased year on year in eighteen countries, including Estonia (+24.8%), Hungary (+16.2%) and Malta (+15.1%), but fell in three others: Portugal (-4.5%), Belgium (-1.8%) and Germany (-1.3%). The building sector increased by 1.7% in the euro zone and by 1.3% in the EU-25, and civil engineering by 0.2% and 1.5% respectively.