The most repeated statistic may simply be the easiest one to remember.

The statistic everyone knows is usually the one that was easiest to repeat, not the one that was best established. A memorable round number travels further than an accurate awkward one, and repetition alone gives it an authority that has nothing to do with where it came from.

When a figure feels like common knowledge, try to trace it once to its source. A surprising number turn out to lead back to something provisional or misread. That single check will not take long, and it changes how you hold every other number that arrives already famous.