in/of interchangeability

[CaseyA]

I was reading an wiki article. Part of it reads:

In the 20th century, the world saw the biggest increase in its population in human history due to lessening of the mortality rate in many countries due to medical advances and massive increase in agricultural productivity attributed to the Green Revolution.

Would "increase in its population" be the almost the same as "increase of its population"?

[5jj]

The preposition normally used with the noun increase is in, at least in BrE.