Germany's private sector continued to see strong growth in February, despite the pace of expansion slowing down from the near seven-year high seen during the opening month of the year, according to the latest PMI survey from IHS Markit.

The IHS Markit Flash Germany Composite Output Index, which is based on around 85% of usual monthly responses, dipped to a three-month low of 57.4 in February, from January's 81-month high of 59.0. Nevertheless, the latest reading was still among the highest seen since early-2011 and reflected robust, albeit slower, growth across both the manufacturing and service sectors.