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NEW YORK — The losses of venture capitalists continued to deepen last year while the industry coped with the fallout from the collapse of the Internet economy, according to a research report released Tuesday. 

Venture capital funds sustained an average loss of 32.4 percent in the year ending Sept. 30, based on numbers compiled by Venture Economics for the National Venture Capital Association, an industry trade group. The loss for that one-year period fell from an average decline of 18.2 percent for the year ending June 30, the report said. 

For the three months ended Sept. 30, venture capital funds lost an average of 10 percent, the report said. 

Like most investors in high-tech companies, venture capitalists have been badly burned by the stock market’s recent distaste for businesses tied to the Internet. To reflect the poor market conditions, venture capitalists have been sharply discounting the value of their portfolios. 

Despite the industry’s terrible showing during 2001, venture capital remained one of the best performing investments over a longer term period. In the three years ended Sept. 30, venture capital funds posted an average annual gain of 53.9 percent, the report said.