Does some current return to the power company through ground?

The wiring can vary in different countries, but that looks perfectly normal.

Current can't just go to ground and disappear. Think of the Earth as a very big spherical conductor. If any current does go through the ground, it will end up at the earth electrode of the supplier's transformer. So the Earth is just an alternative path in parallel with the neutral conductor.

In practice, copper is a better conductor than dirt, so most current goes through the neutral.

The Earth is a relatively poor conductor. That makes it inefficient to use as part of a circuit. Also, as a poor conductor, any current flowing through it will create a voltage differential. This can be a bad thing if the voltage is high enough and a better conducting path is available (like your body).

There is a reason people are warned to stay away from downed power lines. They can be live and applying high voltage to whatever they are touching. If it is the ground, yes, there is a current path back to a transformer somewhere, and there is a voltage gradient around the point where the wire is in contact with the ground, and your body will be a lower-resistance path. Since this is neither a safe nor efficient situation, it's best not to deliberately use the ground as part of a power circuit.

So, the connection to the power company always includes conductors to allow for the flow of current to be balanced in some fashion using only the wires, never the ground. Ground connections are a sort of fail-safe or safety measure only, never expected to carry any current when things are connected and operating correctly.

There is a device called a ground fault circuit interruptor. This safety device compares the current flowing in the "hot" and neutral wires. They should always be equal (and opposite), meaning that all of the supply current is returning through the neutral, and none is returning by any other path. If there is even a tiny difference, the device trips and shuts off the power. The case where such a device would trip would be if current is flowing via ground, potentially harming someone. These devices are designed on the premise that the ground should never be used as a path in a power circuit.