The world's developed economies have entered a "protacted slowdown", the OECD said today as it became the latest international organisation to acknowedge that a global recession has hit.

Economic activity across the OECD's 30 member countries is expected to fall by 0.3 per cent next year, the Paris-based group said.

The US economy will shrink by 0.9 per cent , the eurozone by 0.5 per cent and Japan by 0.1 per cent in Japan, the OECD said.

It came as official figures showed that Germany had tumbled into recession for the first time in five years.

In the UK, the Bank of England has acknowledged that the economy is also in recession and more interest rate cuts may be needed to revive flagging confidence.

Jorgen Elmeskov, director of policy studies in the OECD’s economics department, said the financial crisis was the main driver of the current recession and the outlook was uncertain.

“The ongoing adjustment in housing markets still has a long way to go,” he said.

GDP in the OECD's member economies is expected to stumble throughout next year, before recovering slightly to grow by 1.5 per cent in 2010.

The average unemployment rate in the OECD area, estimated at 5.9 per cent this year, is forecast to climb to 6.9 per cent next year and reach 7.2 per cent in 2010.

In the UK, unemployment is forecast to peak at 3.3 million in 2011.

"Against this backdrop, additional macroeconomic stimulus is needed,” Mr Elmeskov said.

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