Word order in “出去了几个人。” “出去了几个人。”这句话是从汉语规范词典：


  出去
  
  chūqù
  
  动 从里面到外面, 离开说话人所在的位置
  
  出去买菜 | 他出去了 | 出去了几个人。
  
  注意 “去”口语中有时读轻声。


但是对我来说不太清楚。“出去了几个人。”跟“几个人出去了。”，意思一样吗？

I think “几个人出去了。” could be translated by “a few people [left]/[went outside]”. But I'm not at all sure about the meaning of “出去了几个人。”

It's just some basic vocabulary, but I feel like maybe I'm missing something important here... Help!
出去了几个人 is just a bit ambiguous. Are you making a statement or asking a question?


出去了几个人?  How many people went out?
出去了几个人 .  A few people left.
他们几个人出去了。 They went out together.
他们出去了几个人？How many of them went out?