What is the number next to the character picture?

When I hold Down on the D-Pad (Xbox) to show the character selection circle I notice there are some numbers next to the peoples faces. What do these numbers mean?

You can easily check on how many “open” missions your three characters have by pressing and holding the down button on the D-pad. When the radial character switch interface appears, you’ll usually notice a number over each character portrait. This number denotes how many missions the character hasn’t yet started; if there’s no number, there are no new missions to be collected.

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