Brussels, 13/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - In the first quarter 2006 compared to fourth quarter 2005, production in the construction sector was down by 1.3% in the euro area and fell by 0.8% in the EU25. Compared to the first quarter of 2005, output in the first quarter of 2006 rose by 0.4% in both the euro area and EU25, after increases of 0.6% and 1.1% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2005. In the first quarter of 2006 compared to the previous quarter, production in construction rose in eight Member States, including Lithuania (+8.9%), remained stable in three and fell in nine e.g. Germany (-8.7%). Building construction rose by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU25, after a fall of 0.1% in both zones during the previous quarter. Civil engineering fell by 3.3% in the euro area and by 1.7% in the EU25, after a decrease of 0.4% and a rise of 0.1% respectively in the previous quarter. In fourteen Member States production increased and fell in six compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The largest increases were recorded in Estonia (+23.8%), Lithuania (+22.2%), Latvia (+17.3%) and Slovakia (+13.5%), while Spain (-4.4%), Germany (-4.3%) and Portugal (-3.9%) registered the most significant falls. Building construction rose by 2.8% in the euro area and by 1.7% in the EU25, after increases of 0.9% and 0.6% respectively in the previous quarter. Civil engineering decreased by 5.0% in the euro area and by 4.2% in the EU25.