Russia was already experiencing a slowdown, with growth falling to 1.3% in 2013 and investment declining.
Extraordinarily, he even arranged a forum to discuss the slowdown with leading economists.
Luxury chains remained largely immune to the slowdown, with sales at Saks rising 10.6percentt.
Even Germany has not been immune from the slowdown, with manufacturing and industrial output falling.
Mr. Buffett debates the G.D.P. forecast of a 2012 global economic slowdown with Steve Liesman of CNBC.
Recent data raised fears of a slowdown, with a disappointing service sector survey this week adding more evidence.
European countries are showing modest signs of recovering from the global slowdown, with business confidence up slightly.
But Mr. Passel noted that the dates of the decrease matched the deepest years of the economic slowdown, with its high unemployment.
But in a conference call last week, Mr. van den Dool noted "a little hiccup, or a slowdown," with sea temperatures faltering, throwing the matter into doubt.
In almost every other remotely comparable episode, very fast growth ended in a sharp slowdown, with a median drop in the growth rate of 4.7 percentage points.
Economists are divided over the import of the recent slowdown, with many saying it is more likely to seem like a blip than a major change.
