How Many People Go Missing Every Year?

How Many People Go Missing Every Year In The US - How Many People Have Gone Missing Per Year - How Many People Go Missing Every Day

How many people go missing every year in the US?

In this article, you’ll learn about: 

  • how many people go missing every year in the US
  • how many people have gone missing per year
  • how many people go missing every day
  • how many women go missing every year
  • how many kids go missing per day and per year
  • how many people go missing each year and are never found
  • what percentage of missing persons are never found
  • how many missing children are never found

Let’s dig in. 

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How Many People Go Missing Every Year In The US?

On average, 755,137 people go missing per year in the US. (FBI)

The least amount of people that have gone missing in a year is 521,705 people (2021).

The most amount of people that have gone missing in a year is 980,712 people (1997).

How Many People Have Gone Missing Per Year?

# of Missing PeopleYear
663,9211990
705,1751991
801,3581992
868,3451993
954,8961994
969,2641995
955,2521996
980,7121997
932,1901998
867,1291999
867,2132000
840,2792001
821,9752002
824,6992003
830,3252004
834,5362005
836,1312006
814,9672007
778,1642008
719,5582009
692,9442010
678,8602011
661,5932012
627,9112013
634,1552014
634,9082015
647,4352016
651,2262017
612,8462018
609,2752019
543,0182020
521,7052021
546,5682022

The number of people who go missing each year in the U.S. varies.

But based on the data provided, we can observe certain patterns.

From 1990 to 1997, the number of missing people was steadily increasing. 

This began with 663,921 in 1990 and reached a peak of 980,712 in 1997. 

This is an increase of about 47.7% over these 7 years.

However, from 1998 to 2002, there was a consistent drop in the number of missing people each year, falling from 932,190 in 1998 to 821,975 in 2002.

From 2003 to 2006, the numbers plateaued somewhat, fluctuating around the 830,000 mark.

Again from 2007 to 2019, a decreasing trend is noticed. 

The number of missing people declined from 814,967 in 2007 to 609,275 in 2019, a decrease of approximately 25.2%.

In 2020 and 2021, there was a significant drop to 534,018 and 521,705 respectively, possibly due to:

  • COVID-19-related lockdowns 
  • restrictions on movement

In 2022, there was a slight increase again to 546,568.

However, it’s important to remember that these figures do not distinguish between people who were found and those who remain missing. 

They also include individuals who may have gone missing multiple times in a year. 

These figures include missing children reports, which constitute a significant portion of these cases, as well as missing adults.

Read More: How Many Kids Are Kidnapped Each Year?

How Many People Go Missing Every Day?

2,070 people go missing every day in the US, on average. 

We know that 755,410 people go missing every year, on average.

We divided 755,410 missing people by 365 days in a year. 

That tells us that, on average, 2,070 people go missing every day.

How Many Women Go Missing Every Year

279,634 women go missing every year in the US, on average. 

Last year, 271,493 women went missing.

# of Missing WomenYear
271,4932018
257,3852019
268,8842020
298,1902021
302,2182022

How Many Kids Go Missing A Year?

381,388 kids go missing per year, on average. 

This data is from the FBI for 2018 – 2022.

# of Missing KidsYear
423,9672018
421,3372019
365,3482020
337,1952021
359,0942022

It appears that the number of children reported missing each year is quite high, reaching hundreds of thousands annually.

From 2018 to 2019, the number of missing children slightly decreased from 423,967 to 421,337.

Then, a more substantial decrease can be observed from 2019 to 2020, where the number dropped to 365,348. 

The decrease continued in 2021 with 337,195 reported missing children.

In 2022, however, there was a slight increase again, with the number rising to 359,094.

There are many factors that could potentially influence these figures, including:

  • social conditions
  • changes in reporting practices
  • the efficiency of law enforcement efforts
  • public awareness campaigns about child safety

Read More: How Many Missing Children Are Never Found?

How Many Kids Go Missing A Day?

1,045 kids go missing per day, on average. 

There are 381,388 kids that go missing every year. 

We divided the number of kids that go missing per year by 365 days. 

That gives us 1,045 kids that go missing per day. 

Read More: How Many Rapists Are Convicted?

How Many People Go Missing Each Year And Are Never Found?

On average, 5,619 people go missing each year and are never found. 

This data comes from the FBI’s database of missing persons. 

They have data going back to 2015 showing:

  • the number of missing people 
  • the number of people found
Year# of Missing People# of People Found# of People Not Found
2015634,908634,742166
2016647,435644,2943,141
2017651,226651,21511
2018612,846615,629-2,783
2019609,275607,1042,171
2020543,018540,8722,146
2021521,705485,08236,623
2022546,568543,0883,480

What Percentage Of Missing Persons Are Never Found

0.94% of missing persons are never found. 

This data comes from the FBI’s database of missing persons. 

We took the average number of missing persons and the number of people never found. 

Then, we divided the average number of people never found (5,619) by the average number of missing people (595,873). 

That tells us that 0.94% of missing persons are never found. 

Read More: How Many People Are Murdered In The US Every Day

How Many Missing Children Are Never Found?

317,869 children go missing every year in the US.

871 children go missing every day, on average.

19,706 children go missing and are not found every year in the US.

Read More: How Many Missing Children Are Never Found?

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