European manufacturing is in the toilet

It's manufacturing PMI day in Europe, meaning we're finding out just how the continent's manufacturers did in February.

The results are in, and the verdict? Pretty terrible. Manufacturing in all of Europe's biggest economies, and across the Eurozone slumped to its lowest levels in a year in February.

The purchasing managers index (PMI) figures from Markit are given as a number between 0 and 100.

Anything above 50 signals growth, while anything below means a contraction in activity - so the higher the better.

The Eurozone hit 51.2, a slight beat on the forecasts of economists, but still a huge fall from the 52.3 number seen in January. Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist said of the numbers:

With factory output in the eurozone showing the smallest rise for a year in February, concerns are growing that the region is facing yet another year of sluggish growth in 2016, or even another downturn.

Lacklustre domestic demand is being compounded by a worsening global picture. Exports either fell or rose more slowly in all countries surveyed with the sole exception of Austria.

Williamson added that he thinks the disappointing numbers may force ECB president, Mario Draghi, into action to overt another European downturn, saying:

With all indicators - from output and demand to employment and prices - turning down, the survey will add pressure on the ECB to act quickly and aggressively to avert another economic downturn."

Germany, France, and Italy all hit big lows in February - with Italy falling to a 12-month low, and Germany dropping to a 15-month low. Here's a look at the manufacturing industries in some of the Eurozone's biggest economies:

• Germany - 50.5, down from 52.3 in January.
• France - 50.2, off from 50.3 in January, missing the forecasts of economists.
• Italy - 52.2, a miss of 0.3 from forecasts, down from 53.2 last month.
• Spain - 54.1, missing expectations of 54.4, and down 1.3 from January.
• Greece - 48.4, off 1.6 points from January's reading of 50.

Manufacturing figures for February confirmed a set of disappointing results seen in February's Flash PMIs, released last week. Eurozone manufacturing saw a big miss, hitting just 51, versus estimate of 52.0 and compared to 52.3 in January.

Overall, February's flash PMIs were a total bust, with the eurozone posting a big miss for growth. Composite PMI (a measure of the combined manufacturing and services sectors) came in at 52.7 against a forecast of 53.3.

Earlier on Tuesday, China's monthly PMI data showed that the country's manufacturing industry shrunk at the fastest level since 2011, dropping to just 49.0, down from 49.4 in January.