There has been a record plunge in euro zone factory output and a fall in British car production as the OECD warns of global growth contraction this year.
Industrial output in the 16 nations using the euro slumped 3.5% in January from December and dropped 17.3% over 12 months, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.
The slide, the sharpest on Eurostat records going back to 1990, indicated that a severe contraction in the industrial sector gathered pace at the start of the year.
In the 27-nation European Union, the industrial sector faced an equally dire situation with industrial output falling 2.9% in January over one month and 16.3% over one year.
There were also signs of distress across the Irish Sea as car production in Britain slumped by 59% in February as the recession battered demand, according to industry body SMMT. British auto output was down 47.5% in December.
The French auto industry is also foundering but could enjoy a small fillip from a decision by automaker Renault to shift part of its production from Slovenia to near Paris, creating 400 jobs.
Renault had earlier received state aid in exchange for a promise not to shut French plants or axe French jobs.
In Germany steel making giant ThyssenKrupp was reportedly planning to shed more than 3,000 jobs, the first time a German industrial group would axe permanent posts as a result of the country's recession.
As the US and European economies began to deteriorate in the aftermath of a crippling credit crunch born of the near collapse in the US housing market, there had been hope that booming emerging market importers such as China and India would offer a lucrative outlet for western goods.
But today the head of the OECD, Angel Gurria, warned that China and India could not be counted on to stop the rot.
'Now we are probably seeing a world which will go negative,' Gurria told reporters in Beijing.
'Because even the positive growth of India and China is not going to be enough to offset the negative growth in (developed countries).'
The International Monetary Fund yesterday predicted that world output would shrink between 0.5% and 1.0% at an annual rate in 2009, the first contraction since World War II.
