Worse than this, sometimes you can't even compare numbers on the same scale. Inherit assumptions make things difficult to compare. For example: some event may depend highly on the interconnectedness (maximal clique in a graph) than population and this a per capita comparison isn't relevant.
But this is much more than statistics, this is understanding measurements and events. This is really the fundamental problem here, not a lack of understanding statistics (though good statisticians are experts in asking these types of questions).
You might be amused my this -- Limmy on feathers and steel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fC2oke5MFg
Not sure why I couldn't find it on his channel. https://www.youtube.com/c/LimmyLimond/
Of course, it is usually never as obvious to the casual observer as using inconsistent units of linear distance.