UNITED NATIONS -- The world economy is expanding at a subdued pace, and a moderate pickup in growth is expected for 2014, according to the mid-year World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report just released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

The world economic recovery has been "slow" and "uneven" since the global financial crisis erupted five years ago, Pingfan Hong, chief of DESA's Global Economic Monitoring Unit, told reporters here at a press conference on Thursday.

Global growth is projected to be 2.3 percent in 2013, the same pace as in 2012, before gradually strengthening to 3.1 percent in 2014, a slight downgrade from the UN forecast half a year ago, the report said.

It noted that since late 2012, new policy initiatives in major developed economies have reduced systemic risks and helped stabilize consumer, business and investor confidence, but with very limited improvement on economic growth.

According to the report, risks are still tilted to the downside and have the potential to derail the still feeble recovery of the world economy. Short-term risks stemming from the euro area crisis, fiscal adjustment in the United States and a further slowdown in large developing countries have diminished, but not disappeared.

The report also called for enhanced international policy coordination to mitigate negative spillovers, reform the global financial system and ensure sufficient resource flows to developing countries.

WESP is a joint product of DESA, the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the five UN regional commissions. It provides an overview of recent global economic performance and short-term prospects for the world economy, as well as of some key global economic policy and development issues. The WESP mid-2013 is an update of the WESP report released in December 2012.