Not really. The often represents, for instance, a population of 100M, then 0 means 0, 1 (or 100%) means 100M and 1.2 (or 120%) means 120M (in case of population growth).
We are really arguing unimportant semantics here but I don't agree with you, when you say 50% of the population, you are saying 0.5 of the population or 0.5 of 100M. The 50% always represents 0.5 when used correctly, in fact the % sign is a different way of writing "/100" (with some artistic freedoms).
> they actually represent numbers between 0-1
Not really. The often represents, for instance, a population of 100M, then 0 means 0, 1 (or 100%) means 100M and 1.2 (or 120%) means 120M (in case of population growth).