German federal statistics office released a summary on Wednesday, saying the global economic crisis had severely affected the 20 leading developed and emerging economies (G20).

"The price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) of many G20 countries in the fourth quarter of 2008 was smaller than in the fourth quarter of 2007," the Wiesbaden-based office said in its summary report ahead of G20 summit in London.

The office said particularly hit were the economies of Japan and South Korea, where the GDP shrank by 4.3 and 3.4 percent respectively in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to that of 2007 .

In Italy, the GDP shrank by 2.9 percent quarter-on-quarter in the same period, Germany by 1.6 percent, while the European Union (EU) as a whole by 1.3 percent.

North America also saw economic performance decline in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Canada's GDP fell by 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter, the United States by 0.8 percent and Mexico by 1.7 percent.

For the more robust economies like China, India, Indonesia and Argentina, the growth of their GDP has been slow down in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the office.

In the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the GDP in these countries still rose from 4.9 percent to 6.8 percent, but the growth rates were well below the levels of the past years.

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2009)