A record 12,208 people with dementia were reported missing in 2015, mainly as a result of wandering off, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The figure is up 1,425, or 13.2 percent, from the previous year.
The same year, 12,121 people were located, of which nearly 70 percent, or 8,310, were found on the day they went missing and almost 98 percent, or 11,872, were tracked down within a week. But 479 were found dead, and 150 people remain missing, including some who went missing prior to 2015, according to the agency.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said about 4.62 million people had dementia in 2012. It expects the figure to rise to 7 million by 2025.