Nineteen babies have vanished for months at a time, and one infant — just a few months old — has still not been found two years later.
The figures have been unveiled under a freedom of information request.
They show that 4,852 looked-after children were reported missing between January 2012 and December 2013, the Sunday Times reports.
The number includes a one-year-old girl missing since July 2013.
Kent County Council reported the most children missing - with 458 children disappearing on 2,623 occasions.
Peter Oakford, Kent County Council cabinet member for specialist children's services, said: 'It is always a huge concern when children and young people go missing, even if just for a few hours.
'In Kent, we face particular issues due to being a port authority and receive the highest number of unaccompanied minors in the UK.
'When unaccompanied asylum seeker children arrive from abroad, we don't know what sort of ordeals they have gone through on their journey. They are scared and many have been told by traffickers to run away and meet contacts when they arrive in England.'
Meanwhile in the USA: 88% of Missing Sex Trafficked Children Come from US Foster Care (NCMEC Report)
The second highest number was in Nottinghamshire where 215 children disappeared.
In Hertfordshire there were 209 missing children.
Tom Rahilly, head of strategy for looked-after children at the NSPCC, told the paper: 'When children and young people in care go missing it should be no different to when any other child disappears from home. This is very alarming.'
He said children may disappear because the parent decides to remove them without going through the proper channels, and often teenage mothers in care decide to leave with their child.
The Department for Education said it had improved guidance to councils regarding children missing from care.
Source: DailyMail.co.uk