BBC World Service: Global snapshots of the worldwide recession

Global snapshots of the worldwide recession: As the global recession continues, BBC correspondents around the world give a snapshot of how it has affected their region.
BBC World Service

Auction websites are thriving in France as people sell off goods. In France, people are selling unwanted Christmas presents and other sundry items over the internet in order to make ends meet.

Alasdair Sandford in Paris (58 secs)

Many Poles are having difficulty paying their mortgages after taking them out in foreign currencies.

Adam Easton reporting from Warsaw (1 min 29 secs)

Last year, Australian wine exports slumped by 18% in value, with the markets in America and the United Kingdom particularly badly hit. Wine exports have slumped despite a good harvest this year. The industry had hoped that China would become a key new export market, but the orders have failed to materialise.

Nick Bryant reporting from Australia (1 min 12 secs)

Car manufacturers have been some of the hardest hit, especially in the US. However, there is one car-making country where vehicle sales are booming.

Steve Rosenberg in Germany (1 min 59 secs)

In Ukraine, industrial production has plummeted and the government has had to go to the IMF for support.

Gabriel Gatehouse reporting from Kiev (1 min 22 secs)

Cheaper food options are being chosen as budgets shrink. In the US, fast food outlets have been thriving, as people try to eat the maximum calories on the minimum budget.

Matthew Price reporting from New York (1 min 20 secs)

Even the Mafia have had to adjust to the new global economic climate: they are going green.

Mark Duff in Italy (59 secs)

While the plastic surgery industry has suffered from the downturn in many countries, Brazil has bucked the trend.

Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo (1 min 16 secs)

... After a long period of growth it seems that the British boom in organic produce may have come to an end.

Greg Morsbach reporting from London (1 min 16 secs)

Many people from the Philippines travel abroad to work and send money home. However, these workers are often the first in their host countries to be made unemployed and sent home.

Jill McGivering in Manila (1 min 42 secs)

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