This might not be the best explanation. Although 'numbers' and 'figures' can sometimes mean the same thing, in this context, they don't really. I'll try and give an example. The number of something - this will just give you the exact amount of whatever you are counting It's a measurement of a single thing, like 'the amount of..', 'the volume of..' or 'the weight of..'. The figures for something - this can be statistics like percentages, costs and values for a certain topic. It is a set of numbers or values, rather than just one, like 'the data for...', 'the information for...' An example of both would be : the number of people in adult education in the U.K is 12000 The figures for adult education are that it costs £600 per person, 78% of people pass the exams and 2% of people drop out before completion. Does that make sense? I'm not the best at explaining