VIENNA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Human trafficking has become a serious and under-detected crime all around the world, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported on the EU anti-trafficking day.

    The relevant figure showed that currently, about 2.7 million people worldwide were victims of human trafficking, who were engaged in prostitution, begging, or high-intensity labor in tough conditions, including 1.2 million children victims.

    At present, benefits of the human trafficking industry reached up to 32 billion U.S. dollars annually. Following after the drug trafficking, arms smuggling, it has become the third-largest and also the fastest-growing organized crime.

    However, human trafficking was presently considered as the most "mysterious," the most difficult to investigate and the most easily overlooked criminal act.

    For instance, only 9,000 victims were reported in 2006, around 30 times less than the total estimated number.

    The report showed a high degree of trafficking in the European Union. Recent trends showed a marked increase in victims from China and Central Asia.

    According to the report, most identified victims of human trafficking in Europe were young women, trafficked for sexual exploitation. Around 10 percent of trafficking victims in Europe were children. There were also detected cases of men in forced labor, like construction and agriculture.

    Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger openly acknowledged on Oct. 16 that Austria was not only an important transit country for human trafficking, but also a destination.