»World trade fell by 12 percent last year amid the economic crisis, the worst ever decline since 1945, the World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy said on Wednesday.

»The figure was announced at a breakfast policy briefing hosted by the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank. "It is the worst contraction in more than 60 years", said Pascal Lamy.

»The WTO had forecast global trade declined by more than ten percent in 2009 as the financial and economic crisis hit worldwide demand.