Recession

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Last September, we estimated the chances of a US recession occurring in 2016 as one in three. This prediction was less bold than it sounds since recessions have occurred, on average, about once every five years in US history.

Stronger growth in industrialised economies

Said likelihood of recession is around 25%

Equities already entered a bear market

55% chance of global recession

Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has warned major economies are entering a recession that will be "remembered in a hundred years".

Vladimir Putin has said Russia could take as long as two years to recover from its burgeoning economic crisis.

Acknowledging that the forecasting consensus has missed many of the big stories of recent years, analysts at HSBC have attempted to outline the biggest potential risks for investors in 2015.

Japan's economy shrank more than initially estimated in the third quarter of 2014, according to revised gross domestic product (GDP) figures.