Crime generates an estimated $2.1 trillion in global annual proceeds -- or 3.6 percent of the world's gross domestic product -- and the problem may be growing, a United Nations official said on Monday, Reuters reported.

"It makes the criminal business one of the largest economies in the world, one of the top 20 economies," said Yury Fedotov, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), describing it as a threat to security and economic development.

The figure was calculated recently, for the first time, by the UNODC and World Bank, based on the data for 2009.

Fedotov said that annually up to $40 billion is lost through corruption in developing countries, and illicit incomes from human trafficking amounts to $32 billion every year.

"According to some estimates, at any one time, 2.4 million people suffer the misery of human trafficking, a shameful crime of modern day slavery," he said.

Criminal groups have shown "impressive adaptability" to law enforcement actions and new profit opportunities, a senior U.S. official said.

(China.org.cn April 25, 2012)

據(jù)路透社報(bào)道，周一，聯(lián)合國(guó)的一名官員表示，犯罪活動(dòng)的全球年收入約達(dá)2.1萬(wàn)億美元，占全世界國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的3.6%，該問(wèn)題可能會(huì)進(jìn)一步惡化。

聯(lián)合國(guó)毒品和犯罪辦事處處長(zhǎng)尤里·費(fèi)多托夫說(shuō)：“這使得違法生意成為世界上最大的經(jīng)濟(jì)體之一，位列20強(qiáng)。”他還說(shuō)，該問(wèn)題是對(duì)安全和經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的危險(xiǎn)。

最近，聯(lián)合國(guó)毒品和犯罪辦事處和世界銀行用2009年的數(shù)據(jù)首次算出了這一數(shù)字。

費(fèi)多托夫說(shuō)，每年發(fā)展中國(guó)家因腐敗損失400億美元，販賣(mài)人口產(chǎn)生的非法收入每年高達(dá)320億美元。

他說(shuō)：“據(jù)某些估算顯示，在任一時(shí)期，240萬(wàn)人受害于販賣(mài)人口活動(dòng)，這是可恥的現(xiàn)代社會(huì)販奴行為。”

一名美國(guó)高級(jí)官員稱(chēng)，犯罪組織對(duì)執(zhí)法行動(dòng)和新的賺錢(qián)機(jī)會(huì)表現(xiàn)出“驚人的適應(yīng)力”。