Economic activity is expected to plummet by an average 4.3 percent in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) area in 2009.
By the end of 2010 unemployment rates in many countries will reach double figures for the first time since the early 1990s, according to the OECD's Economic Outlook Interim Report.
Amid the deepest and most widespread recession for more than 50 years, international trade is forecast to fall by more than 13 percent in 2009 and world economic activity to shrink by 2.7 percent.
The big emerging economies will also suffer abrupt slowdowns in growth. The report predicts that the global recession will worsen this year before a policy-induced recovery gradually builds momentum through 2010.