TOKYO, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The number of people reported missing with dementia hit a record high in 2017, the National Police Agency (NPA) said in a report on Thursday.

According to the NPA, the number of missing people with confirmed or suspected dementia who were reported as going missing last year totaled 15,863 people, rising by 431 cases reported for the previous year and leaping 65 percent from 2012 when data collection began.

The NPA said of the total number of cases reported, 10,129 people were found by the police and 5,037 people returned home by themselves or were found by their relatives.

The agency also said that of the total number of cases reported, 227 missing persons could not be found by the end of the year and 470 people were confirmed dead.

As Japan's elderly population continues to rapidly increase, with 14 percent of Japan's population of 127 million people aged over 75, the government estimates the number of dementia sufferers will also increase.

According to one government estimate, by 2025 there will be around 7 million elderly people with dementia.

The NPA said that efforts and initiatives to find people missing who have dementia are being put into place.

Such methods include training police officers to recognize elderly people who display symptoms of dementia and the creation of a database to collect pictures of those who have been reported missing.

According to the police data, the total number of cases of missing people reported in Japan stood at 84,850 last year, largely unchanged from the previous year.

Of the total number of missing people, the police said that 56,000 of them were at risk of becoming victims of crime or committing suicide.

The NPA said it will make utmost efforts to locate people reported missing as quickly as possible.?