Passport theft quadruples in seven years?

In 1999, the number of passports reported lost or stolen in the UK was 62,364. Since then, every year, the number has increased, often two fold. The result is that last year in the UK a staggering 290,996 were reported lost or stolen.

I'm not quite sure what this means. Either we are, as a nation are becoming more scatty and easily mislay things. Or identity theft really is becoming thoroughly endemic and the authorities lack the means to tackle it in a serious way.