以上に【いじょうに】

以上に means "more than", "beyond": the reality goes past a standard or an expectation. It follows a noun such as そうぞう想像, よそう予想 or ひつよう必要, or a plain verb, usually the past of おもう思う or きたい期待する.

Before a noun, に becomes の.

以上に or より

より simply compares two things. With 以上に, the standard is already high, and the subject goes beyond even that.

Compared with the usual

With a word like れいねん例年 (an average year) or ぜんかい前回 (last time), 以上に says things went further than they normally do.