The Esomar Global Market Research Report found that although overall revenues were up by a gross level of 4.5% to $32bn in 2008, the net growth when inflation is taken in to account is only 0.4% against the 2007 figure.
It also showed that market research in 28 countries was in decline after inflation was taken in to account, including in the US, down by 2.1% after inflation, and Canada, down 2.2%.
The news was better in Europe, where overall growth after inflation for 2008 stood at 0.9%.
The UK managed to buck the trend by posting 2.5% net growth -- the figure for German was the same. Latin America was the strongest performing region, with growth of 5.6% after inflation.
Gunilla Broadbent, president of Esomar, said: "Our strong industry growth rate may have reached an inflection point in some regions but this is clearly linked to the economic downturn.
"The sustained growth in some emerging markets, particularly Latin America, is encouraging."