The report said demand for prostitution exceeded supply.

The US-government funded report by the non-profit group, Shared Hope International, looks in depth at the child-sex industries in four countries, including Jamaica.

On Jamaica, the group says the island's tourist industry, especially its adult-only resorts, encourages tourists to demand any pleasure they wish.

It adds that Jamaica's economic dependence on tourism and extensive poverty creates a culture of "making do" in which prostitution of youth is common.

Japan, the Netherlands and the United States are the other countries on which studies were done.

Sex Tourism

In the United States, the investigations in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Washington found that large numbers of American children are prostituted on the streets, through escort services, and in pornography and erotic dancing, and large numbers of American men are buying these services.

"Although vastly different culturally, socially, economically, and historically, each country shares a culture of tolerance allowing major markets for local and international sex tourism and trafficking to flourish," the report said.

It also said that in the commercial sex markets, demand exceeds supply.

Shared Hope International's mission is to rescue and restore victims of sex trafficking.

On its website, the organisation says it is joining local organisations in Jamaica to set up a shelter for sexually exploited girls.