Digit with the Least Appearances

Among the digits \(0\) through \(9\), which digit appears the least often when counting from \(1\) to \(1000\), and why?

Answer

Zero appears least often, because unlike the other digits, leading zeroes do not contribute to its count. For instance, the number \(007\) is just \(7\), so there is no explicit `0` in the hundreds or tens place when writing it as a typical integer without leading zeros. This puts digit `0` at a disadvantage compared to digits \(1\) through \(9\) which do not share this disadvantage.

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