• from the previous year vs. since last year

Hi!

I read the following article in a TOEIC book:



“While unusual restaurant decor is not a new concept, its popularity is growing for one good reason: increased competition. Three hundred billion dollars was spent in restaurants in the last year, an increase of about 5% from the previous year, and the number of restaurants increased by 3%. ….



153. By how much did the amount of money spent in restaurants increase since last year?



(A) 3%

(B) 5%

(C) 50%

(D) 100%



(Answer: B)” ((Complete Guide to the TOEIC Test, 3rd Edition, by Bruce Rogers))



I think there’s something wrong with the above question.



In the above context, “from the previous year” means ‘from the year before last year’, I think. Thus, the original question should be corrected into “Last year, by how much did the amount of money spent in restaurants increase from the year before last year?”. If we don’t correct the original question, we do not have any correct answer because the above article does not mention anything about how much amount of money has increased since last year.



What do you think?

Thanks in advance.