As IMF sees global recession on horizon, here are the signs to look out for

In the April 2009 study, its economists decided that declining per-capita GDP was the main indicator to monitor recession

The hottest topic in global financial markets is whether the world economy is heading for recession, but defining such a slump is easier said than done.

The marker for most developed economies is two successive quarters of contracting gross domestic product. In the U.S., it’s the lagging decision of a panel of academics formed by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Calling a recession for the whole world is a lot harder. Once it was a case of tracking powerhouses such as the U.S. and Germany, but emerging markets now account for a bigger share of global GDP and a slump by