Verbal | Re: Is idiom the numbers of always wrong?

Dearmikemcgarry

I hope you are well and in safe place away from those horrible hurricanes.

I have 2 questions about the sentence at hand as follows:

1- In choice'D' , If'increased ' is replaced by'grew ', is there any subtle difference?

2- regardless of using 'the numbers of', I do not understand why is Choice B wrong? What is the difference between'increased/grew ' and 'increased/grew by '?

Thanks in advance