Prospects for economic growth in the United States and the eurozone have improved and are predicted to hit 2.6 percent and 2 percent this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Wednesday.

Overall forecasts for real GDP growth in the OECD's 34 member states, comprising most of the world's major economies, remained steady at 2.3 percent in 2011.

Japan stands out negatively. Its economy is now predicted to contract by 0.9 percent because of the March earthquake that devastated hundreds of homes and businesses along the northeast coast.

The Paris-based OECD had predicted last November that real GDP in Japan would grow at a modest 1.7 percent, on a par with the eurozone, and that the United States would expand by 2.2 percent.

Global growth is now pegged at between 4.25 percent and 4.5 percent this year.

Whether this will translate into genuine improvements in living standards is unclear. The OECD has acknowledged that GDP is a limited gauge which doesn't reflect many changes in quality of life. Earlier this week the organization launched a separate index to measure people's expectations and governments' abilities to meet them.