Why are exported photos larger than dragged photos?

I have a jpg image in my iPhoto '11 (9.2.1) library that shows it is 3.7MB; imported direct from camera, no editing whatsoever.
If I drag it to my desktop (on a MacBook 13"), then File Info shows the dragged image is [still] 3.7MB with the same dimensions.
But, if I export from iPhoto to the desktop, as a JPEG with Maximum Quality and Full Size, the exported image on the desktop shows it is 7.5MB with the same dimensions.
? Huh?
What's happening here?
Can somebody explain how an image can grow?
(I've replicated this three times with three separate images and it has happened all three times.)

I can explain and the image isn't growing.
You need to separate two things in your head. That file is not your Photo. That file is a box containing your Photo.
The illustration I use is as follows: In my iTunes Library I have a file called 'Let_it_Be_The_Beatles.mp3'. So what is that, exactly? It's not the song. The Beatles never wrote an mp3. They wrote a tune and lyrics. They recorded it and a copy of that recording is stored in the mp3 file. So the file is just a container for the recording. That container is designed in a specific way attuned to the characteristics and requirements of the data. Hence, mp3.
Similarly, that Jpeg is not your photo, it's a container designed to hold that kind of data.
iPhoto is all about the data and not about the container. So, iPhoto will manage the photo, edit the photo, add metadata to the Photo but never touch the file. If you choose to export - unless you specifically choose to export the original - iPhoto will export the Photo into a new container - a new file containing the photo.
(As you've never edited the file, dragging is the same as exporting the original)
So now you have two files each containing the same Photo.
The file size is different because your camera applies a Moderate level of compression to the file when it creates it.
You're exporting at Maximum Quality. That means "minimum compression". So, the export from iPhoto is less compressed than the file from the camera, and therefore is larger.
Regards
TD

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