Annual data compiled by Ofsted shows that 4,245 young people went missing from foster care on 13,305 occasions during 2013/14, an average of around three times each.
In 2012/13, 3,345 children went missing a total of 9,764 times.
The number of incidents rose most steeply for placements provided by independent fostering agencies which had 7,805 incidents in 2013/14, compared with 5,462 in 2012/13, an increase of 43 per cent.
Meanwhile, there was a 28 per cent increase in cases of children going missing from local authority approved foster carers – up from 4,302 in 2012/13 to 5,500 in 2013/14.
The most common reason for children going missing was because they wanted to get in contact with family or friends, which accounted for 6,596 incidents.
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