At least 80,000 Italian "paedophile" tourists travel abroad each year in search of sex with children, mainly in developing countries, according to a new study.

Worldwide, a child is abused sexually every two minutes, according to the study by Ecpat Italia.

"Child prostitution, child sex tourism, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sex are old and new forms of slavery that involve poor countries but also countries like Italy, which is a destination for traffickers and one of the biggest consumers of paedophile pornography," the report said.

Around one-fifth of all trafficked sex slaves were children, the report added.

Ecpat has a network of branches in more than 70 countries and advocates cooperation between countries, agencies and institutions to fight the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.