In 2023, more than 91,000 people were missing in Japan under various circumstances. This number is increasing for the third year in a row, according to the report of the general police department of the country.

Of this number, 19,000 are people with dementia or suspected of having dementia. This is the largest number since 2012, when such statistics were started. Disappearances of people with dementia in Japan have increased for the eleventh year in a row, doubling from 2012. A total of 55.7 percent of those missing due to dementia are men.

The number of such cases is increasing as Japan's population ages, Yoshifumi Matsumura, Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission of Japan, said at a press conference in Tokyo.

"We are working towards taking faster and more effective measures to help people with dementia," he said.

Today, people over the age of 65 account for almost 30 percent of Japan's population. In some regions, people with dementia have started to be given mobile devices that can determine their location. Also, they have started using drones to search for the missing.

At the same time, more than half of the disappearances of people in Japan are believed to be related to family problems, business or work situations, the report noted.