In 2025, the German Red Cross (DRK) registered a total of 1,841 new cases of missing relatives in its international tracing program. Along with the cases already lodged this year, the total number of missing persons on file at DRK is now over 2,600.
According to the DRK's latest report, another 786 reports of missing persons were filed in the first half of this year, adding significantly to the ongoing caseload.
The people who are unaccounted for are assumed to have gone missing during war, migration or after natural disasters.
The main countries of origin for the majority of missing individuals were Afghanistan, Ukraine, Somalia, Syria, and Iraq -- all nations with a contemporary history of conflict.
In total, the DRK is now working on a caseload of at least 2,627 files.
The latest figures were published in the run-up to August 30, which marks International Day of the Disappeared.
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More than just statistics
The head of the DRK Tracing Service, Frauke Weber, said in a statement that the organization was only able to provide assistance in less than a quarter of all cases.
"Behind every number is a family waiting for news," she stressed.
"The relatives of missing persons live in uncertainty, yet they have a right to certainty."
The DRK Tracing Service supports people who can no longer locate their relatives; it is funded in Germany by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The tracing service has been a core mission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement for over 160 years now, the organization says.
Read AlsoFamilies of lost migrants: Waiting for answers that may never come
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