United States
The United Stated with a GDP of $13.8 trillion is the world's No.1. The US economy grew in the first quarter by 1 per cent.
However, the recession has battered the economy. By June 2008, the economy fell into a recession.
In the third quarter of 2008, the GDP shrunk by 0.5 per cent, the biggest fall since 2001. The 6.4 per cent fall in spending during Q3 on non-durable goods, like clothing and food, was the largest since 1950. About 2.6 million Americans lost their jobs in 2008, the worst since the end of World War II.
Japan
With a huge fall in exports, Japan has moved deeper into recession in the fourth quarter.
Japan's GDP has fallen at an annual rate of 0.4 per cent from July to September 2008, marking the second consecutive quarter of negative growth.
Japan's previous recession was in 2001, after the dot-com bust in the United States
Japanese exports plunged a record 35 percent in December as the recession led to a fall in electronics and automobiles. Bank of Japan said the economy will shrink by 1.8 per cent this financial year.
China
It saw a GDP growth rate of 13 per cent in 2007. China revised the growth rate of its gross domestic product (GDP) for 2007 to 13 per cent from 11.9 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
The pace was the fastest since 1994 when the GDP expanded by 13.1 per cent, according to the NBS data.
Final verification showed the GDP totaled $3.76 trillion.
However, the recession has taken a toll on the economy. The growth in manufacturing has fallen sharply in the fourth quarter.
The GDP growth in the fourth dropped to 6.8 per cent, pulling down the full year growth down to 9 per cent from 13 per cent in 2007.
Germany
Falling exports saw the German economy's GDP fall by half a percent in July, August and September, which was the second straight quarter of decline.
The European economy saw its first recession in 15 years. Europe is facing the worst financial crisis since the great depression.
The GDP in the 15 euro nations contracted by 0.2 per cent during August, September and October 2008.
United Kingdom
The GDP of the fifth largest economy stood at $2.72 trillion.
The Economist Intelligence Unit in its forecast said the UK economy will "stagnate" during 2009.
It said UK GDP growth will fall from 3.1 per cent in 2007, to one per cent in 2008 and it will contract 0.8 per cent in 2009.
The economy shrank in the third quarter for the first time since 1992.
France
The French economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the second quarter of the year. However, the gross domestic product grew by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2008.
The International Monetary Fund has forecast a 0.5 percent fall of the French economy in 2009.
President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled a 26-billion-euro stimulus plan in December to fight the crisis.
Italy
The Italian economy fell in the third quarter of 2008 for the second consecutive quarter.
The GDP fell by 0.5 per cent on a quarter-ago basis, after a revised drop of 0.4 per cent in the second quarter.
Spain
Spain has been trapped under a recession for the first time in 15 years. Spain's economy fell for the first time since 1993.
Spain's gross domestic product fell 0.2% in the third quarter from the second quarter, while it grew 0.9% from the third quarter a year earlier.
Canada
It is expected that Canada will see negative growth in the next two quarters. Canada's unemployment rate is set to hit a high of 7.4 per cent in 2009.
While the growth is 0.6 percent in 2008, there will be no growth this year, according to The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
Brazil
Brazil's economy has also been hit by the recession. Brazil's industrial output fell by 6.2 per cent in November. This has been the fall since December 2001.
Brazil's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point in seven years.
