Brazil registered 84,760 cases of missing persons in 2025. This figure equates to 232 disappearances per day and is 4.1 percent higher than in 2024, when 81,406 disappearances were recorded.

Data from the National Public Security Information System (Sinesp) indicate that even the creation of the National Policy for the Search for Missing Persons in 2019 was unable to contain the escalation of the problem. That year, 81,306 cases were recorded, a figure 4.2 percent lower than the previous year.

Brazilian legislation establishes a set of guidelines and integrated actions aimed at expediting and coordinating the location of missing persons nationwide, with a focus on cooperation among security, healthcare, and social assistance agencies.

Since 2015, when 75,916 cases were recorded, the number of missing persons in Brazil declined only in 2020 (63,151) and 2021 (67,362). According to experts, this drop was due to COVID-19 restrictions, which, among other effects, made access to police stations more difficult and increased underreporting.

“There is a consensus that this temporary drop was caused by the pandemic, as people were required to stay at home,” Simone Rodrigues, coordinator of the Observatory of Missing Persons in Brazil (ObDes) at the University of Brasília (UnB), told Agência Brasil.

Missing persons located

The total number of people located has also been increasing since the beginning of this decade. In 2020, 37,561 people reported missing reappeared or were located. By 2025, this figure had risen to 56,688, an increase of 51 percent over the period and 2 percent compared to 2024, when 55,530 people were located.

Rodrigues pointed out that the progress reflects both the rising number of cases and improvements in search strategies and tools.

“I have seen greater commitment, especially in the past two years, to promoting data interoperability and communication between institutions [federal, state, and municipal],” said the lawyer, who holds a PhD in political science.

For her, official data do not account for the real complexity of the problem, as many disappearances are associated with unsolved crimes. One example is the recent case of real estate agent Daiane Alves de Souza, 43, in Caldas Novas, Goiás state.

Souza disappeared on December 17 last year, after being filmed in the elevator of the building where she lived. Her body was found on Wednesday, January 28, in a wooded area, in an advanced state of decomposition. The building’s superintendent, Cléber Rosa de Oliveira, accused of committing the crime along with his son, confessed to killing the real estate agent and indicated the location of her body.

“The dynamics of disappearance cases are complex and diverse. To understand them, it is necessary to consider the various forms of violence that are often involved, such as femicide, human trafficking, forced labor, LGBTQphobia, and the concealment of bodies,” Rodrigues said. She emphasized that, in many cases, relatives or acquaintances of the victims avoid or are unable to file a police report.

“In contexts involving the actions of militias or other criminal groups, for example, it is common for people close to the victims to fail to notify the authorities. Indigenous people also do not usually file police reports in these cases, nor do people experiencing homelessness. Therefore, even if surprising, the figures are not reliable, as there is underreporting,” Rodrigues added.

Minors

Just like the children who disappeared in Bacabal, Maranhão, on January 4, in a search that mobilized hundreds of people and drew nationwide attention, nearly a third (28%) of the people who disappeared in 2025 were under 18 years old. The 23,919 cases involving children and adolescents represent an 8 percent increase compared to the 22,092 disappearances of children and adolescents recorded in 2024 - double the overall average increase of 4 percent. However, compared to the 27,730 cases in 2019, the year the National Policy for the Search for Missing Persons came into effect, the most recent figure is 14 percent lower.

Another striking fact is that, while men account for 64 percent of all missing persons in 2025, among children and adolescents the majority of cases (62%) involve girls.

“Many of these children and adolescents are fleeing contexts of domestic violence, and in such cases state agents need to be sensitive enough not to expose them to those situations again. At the same time, they cannot generalize, because not all cases are the same,” the specialist explained.

National policy

The coordinator of the Observatory of Missing Persons in Brazil noted that the National Policy for the Search for Missing Persons was an important initial response to the problem, but after nearly seven years it is “still in its infancy” in the country.

“It is being implemented little by little, and it already needs adjustments. Just consider that the National Registry of Missing Persons, which is the heart of the policy, was only created in 2025 and has seen low participation from the states,” she commented.

According to the National Secretariat of Public Security (Senasp), records of disappearances and locations from 12 of Brazil’s 26 states and the Federal District are integrated into the national registry, created seven years after the enactment of the National Policy for the Search for Missing Persons to support investigations and facilitate cross-referencing of information.

Improvements

When contacted for comment, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security acknowledged the underreporting in official records but noted that, precisely because of this, “the four percent increase compared to the previous year does not necessarily mean a real increase in cases,” it wrote in a note.

The ministry highlighted that classifying the different causes of disappearances is “a statistical challenge” that depends on “the meticulous investigation of each case of location and the rigorous standardization” of the information collected.

Furthermore, the note read that in recent years it has been working with states and the Federal District to strengthen the pillars of the National Policy for the Search for Missing Persons. These efforts include the launch of the National Registry of Missing Persons, the training of civil police officers, campaigns to collect genetic material (DNA) from relatives of missing persons, and public communication campaigns.

Regarding the fact that fewer than half of Brazilian states have joined the National Registry, the ministry stated it “expects to integrate the remaining states in the first half of 2026.”

Brazilian favelas are home to a predominantly young, black, working-class population with concrete plans for the future. At the same time, they face persistent structural challenges in areas ranging from education to security. This reality is highlighted in the Dreams of the Favela survey, conducted by Data Favela across Brazil’s five regions, with an emphasis on Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The study is based on 4,471 responses collected from adults aged 18 and over, all residents of favelas, between December 11 and 16, 2025. The main objective is to invite the public and authorities to understand and address the neglect that affects life in favelas.

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Dignity and basic well-being are among the main aspirations. When projecting the future of their families into 2026, the desire for a better home leads the plans (31%), followed by the pursuit of quality healthcare (22%), children’s entry into university (12%), and food security (10%).

“We believe that mapping the thoughts, experiences, and lives of favela residents is, above all, an act of recognition and reparation. Favela is not just a ‘problem’ or a ‘statistic.’ It is also a space where collective intelligence, culture, entrepreneurship, innovation, and genuine strategies for prosperity exist,” said Cléo Santana, co-president of Data Favela.

“Listening to those who live in the favela every day shifts the center of the narrative: it’s not just about ‘talking,’ but about building data with people based on what they consider urgent, possible, and necessary. This directly impacts how public policies are designed, how companies relate to these audiences, and how the press portrays the peripheries,” she added.

Sociodemographic profile

The majority of respondents are adults aged 30 to 49 (58%). Young people aged 18 to 29 account for 25 percent, while those aged 50 and over make up 17 percent. Approximately 60 percent are women, and 75 percent of all respondents identify as heterosexual.

Approximately 80 percent of residents identify as either dark brown (49%) or black (33%). White respondents account for 15 percent.

Regarding education levels, 8 percent have completed primary education; 35 percent, secondary education; 11 percent, higher education; and 5 percent, postgraduate studies.

About 60 percent earn up to one minimum wage (BRL 1,621) per month. Following that, 27 percent earn up to BRL 3,040, while 15 percent earn above BRL 3,040.

Around three in ten reported having a formal job, 34 percent are informally employed (including those without formal contracts and those doing odd jobs), 17 percent are unemployed, and 8 percent are outside the labor force (including retirees and students).

Overall, 56 percent of respondents stated they do not receive any type of government benefit, such as cooking gas aid, retirement or pension from the National Social Security Institute (INSS), the social electricity tariff, or unemployment insurance. Among those who receive a benefit, the most cited is the income transfer program Bolsa Família/Auxílio Brasil (29%).

Territorial Infrastructure

Concerning territorial infrastructure, residents were asked about the main changes they would like to see in their communities by 2026. The most frequent responses were basic sanitation (26%), education (22%), healthcare (20%), transportation (13%), and the environment (7%).

In terms of sports, leisure, and cultural options in their communities, 35 percent of respondents rated them as bad or very bad, while 32 percent described them as average.

Challenges of race and gender

Approximately 50 percent of respondents stated that skin color impacts job opportunities, while 43 percent said it does not.

The main challenge women face within the favela is domestic violence and femicide, according to seven out of ten respondents, followed by difficulties with employment and income (43%) and support with childcare (37%).

When asked which public policies they consider most urgent for women, the most frequent responses were job placement programs (62%), educational campaigns against sexism (44%), police stations and services with 24-hour assistance (43%), and women’s health care (39%).

Public security

Favela residents were also asked which institutions they trust to protect them from violence. Responses included the Military Police (27%), Civil Police (11%), and their favela’s faction (7%). The option with the most votes, however, was “none of them” (36%).

As for police presence in the favela, researchers note a significant silence: 24 percent chose not to answer, while 25 percent said it does not affect their sense of security. Another 13 percent reported feeling fear and insecurity due to police presence, whereas 22 percent feel safer with policing in the area.

“A symbolic finding of the research is that their greatest desire is to be able to come and go freely (47%), showing that the future is still conceived from a perspective of survival and fear. Research like this acts as a megaphone, amplifying a voice the favela already has,” explains Cléo Santana, co-president of Data Favela.