This is a list of people who went missing after the year 2000, as well as people whose locations are unknown or whose deaths have not been confirmed, except for those who disappeared at sea. Many who go missing are later declared legally dead without their bodies being found, but the exact times and reasons for their deaths are not known. Some individuals may have been taken against their will, but in many cases, there is not enough information about what happened to them afterward.

Worldwide data about missing persons during the late 20th and early 21st centuries is not always accurate because of several reasons, such as people moving across countries, the ability to travel, and laws that protect people who may have intentionally disappeared. According to the International Commission on Missing Persons, "There are few complete and accurate numbers about how many people go missing globally because of trafficking, violence linked to drugs, or migration. Even the numbers of people missing because of wars or human rights violations, which are usually tracked more closely, are hard to confirm because many governments are unwilling to share honest information about this issue."

In the United States, the number of missing persons cases reached almost 1 million by the mid-1990s, but this number dropped by about half by 2021. As of 2014, it was estimated that about 90,000 people in the United States were missing at any given time, with around 60% being adults and 40% being children. In 2021, there were about 520,000 missing person cases in the United States. A 2017 report showed that the states of Oregon, Arizona, and Alaska had the highest number of missing-person cases per 100,000 people. In Canada, which has a population about one-tenth the size of the United States, the number of missing-person cases is lower, but the rate per person is higher. In 2015, about 71,000 missing-person cases were reported in Canada. Of these, 88% were found within seven days, but about 500 people remained missing after one year. In the United Kingdom, it was estimated in 2009 that about 275,000 British citizens went missing each year. In some countries, such as Japan, the number of missing persons is not fully reflected in official records because many missing individuals are not reported to authorities.