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The fund said world growth would hit just 3% this year - down from its July forecast of 3.2% and a sharp slowdown from just two years ago.
The IMF blamed the slowdown on trade fights, Brexit uncertainty and other geopolitical crises.
It added there is an "urgent" need for leaders to de-escalate the tensions.
"The global outlook remains precarious," the international lending body said in its annual report. "At 3% growth, there is no room for policy mistakes."
Global downgrade
The IMF, which downgraded its forecasts for most of the world, predicted that growth in advanced economies would slow from 2.3% in 2018 to 1.7% this year.
In the US, where an economic boost from a 2017 tax cut has faded, the fund expects growth to pull back from 2.9% last year to 2.4% in 2019.
In the UK, where Brexit-related worries have hurt investment, growth is forecast at 1.2% for 2019, down from 1.4% last year.
In Germany, which is reeling from a downturn in car production, growth is predicted at 0.5%, down from 1.5% in 2018.
China's economic growth is expected to slow from 6.6% to 6.1%. It has been hit by efforts to rein in risky debt and the trade war with the US, which led the IMF to shave almost a percentage point off global growth.
Thus far, the IMF said central banks have managed to blunt the impact of the slowdown with tools such as low interest rates. Without those stimulus policies, it estimates that the growth rate would have been 0.5 percentage points lower this year. [...]
World Economic Outlook, October 2019: Global Manufacturing Downturn, Rising Trade Barriers