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How many people go missing every year in the US?
In this article, you’ll learn about:
Let’s dig in.
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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).
# of Missing People | Year |
---|---|
663,921 | 1990 |
705,175 | 1991 |
801,358 | 1992 |
868,345 | 1993 |
954,896 | 1994 |
969,264 | 1995 |
955,252 | 1996 |
980,712 | 1997 |
932,190 | 1998 |
867,129 | 1999 |
867,213 | 2000 |
840,279 | 2001 |
821,975 | 2002 |
824,699 | 2003 |
830,325 | 2004 |
834,536 | 2005 |
836,131 | 2006 |
814,967 | 2007 |
778,164 | 2008 |
719,558 | 2009 |
692,944 | 2010 |
678,860 | 2011 |
661,593 | 2012 |
627,911 | 2013 |
634,155 | 2014 |
634,908 | 2015 |
647,435 | 2016 |
651,226 | 2017 |
612,846 | 2018 |
609,275 | 2019 |
543,018 | 2020 |
521,705 | 2021 |
546,568 | 2022 |
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:
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?
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.
279,634 women go missing every year in the US, on average.
Last year, 271,493 women went missing.
# of Missing Women | Year |
---|---|
271,493 | 2018 |
257,385 | 2019 |
268,884 | 2020 |
298,190 | 2021 |
302,218 | 2022 |
381,388 kids go missing per year, on average.
This data is from the FBI for 2018 – 2022.
# of Missing Kids | Year |
---|---|
423,967 | 2018 |
421,337 | 2019 |
365,348 | 2020 |
337,195 | 2021 |
359,094 | 2022 |
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:
Read More: How Many Missing Children Are Never Found?
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.
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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:
Year | # of Missing People | # of People Found | # of People Not Found |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | 634,908 | 634,742 | 166 |
2016 | 647,435 | 644,294 | 3,141 |
2017 | 651,226 | 651,215 | 11 |
2018 | 612,846 | 615,629 | -2,783 |
2019 | 609,275 | 607,104 | 2,171 |
2020 | 543,018 | 540,872 | 2,146 |
2021 | 521,705 | 485,082 | 36,623 |
2022 | 546,568 | 543,088 | 3,480 |
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.
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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