The growth outlook for emerging markets slipped to a seven-month low in April as demand for their products and services declined due to slowdown in global economy, according to a fresh survey by HSBC.

The HSBC Emerging Markets Index slipped from 52.5 in March to 51.3 in April. The reading represents growth, but it is the lowest in the last seven months. It may be noted here that a reading of above fifty represents growth, while a reading of below 50 represents contraction in an economy.

Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC, said, "Weaker economic growth across most advanced markets is now being felt in the emerging world as well."

In China, business outlook for manufacturers as well as service providers weakened to its lowest in April this year. Service providers were the least optimistic since the start of the surveys in 2005.

Among the BRIC countries, Brazil was the only economy that reported an improvement in April. It improved from 51 in March to 51.5 in April, thanks to stronger data from service sector.

South Korean manufacturers performed better than peers in other Asian countries in April. South Korea's manufacturing volumes increased at their highest rate in a year. Manufacturing in Taiwan grew for fifth consecutive month in April.