'Zeilen aus der Listbox 
Dim lines() As String = _
    ("birne birne tomate birne apfel tomate birne apfel apfel toast " & _
     vbCrLf & "      " & vbCrLf & _
     "birne birne tomate birne apfel tomate birne apfel apfel toast " & _
     vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
     "birne birne tomate birne apfel tomate birne apfel apfel toast ").Split
 
 
Dim FilteredAndGroupedEntries As List(Of String) = _
     (From entry As String In lines _
      Where Not String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry) _
      Group By entry Into Count() _
      Order By Count, entry _
      Select String.Format("({0}) {1}", NumberFormat(Count, 3), entry)).ToList

Private Function NumberFormat(ByVal number As Integer, _
        byval leng As Integer) As String
 
        Dim ret As String = CStr(number)
        Dim adds As Integer = leng - ret.Length
        If adds > 0 Then ret = StrDup(adds, " "c) & ret
        Return ret
End Function