The worst statistic ever?
It must surely be in the running. The following sentence was written in 1995: Read it carefully.

Every year since 1950, the number of American children gunned down has doubled.

Now, take any number you like -- heck, take "one" -- and double it forty-five times. Does anyone seriously believe that over 17 trillion children were killed by guns in 1995?

It is bad enough to create an unrealistic projection of future trends with incomplete statistics: It is quite another to create such an absurdly wrong statement purporting to describe the current human condition.

LATER: I should add that the quote above is actually a garbled paraphrase of a statistic that is correct...

The number of American children killed each year by guns has doubled since 1950.

...and it's not the Children's Defense Fund's fault that it was misused. On the other hand, even the original number, while true, doesn't tell the whole story. Context is everything, as Joel Best explains.

(If you can't tell the difference between the two renderings, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.)