LONDON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Cup helped kick the British economy up a gear, according to data released on Thursday which saw the football tournament give a boost to the high street.

July's retail sales figures were stronger than expected, with a 0.7 percent monthly rise in retail sales volumes beating the consensus expectation for a smaller 0.2 percent increase.

The data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that July's better-than-expected figures more than reversed the 0.5 percent fall in sales in June.

As a result, annual growth in sales picked up from 2.9 percent to 3.5 percent.

The breakdown showed that the monthly increase in sales volumes was predominantly driven by non-store retailing, and the trend towards online shopping was particularly marked in July.

In annual terms, non-store sales volumes rose by 16.9 percent, the strongest rise since last September.

The ONS said that there was anecdotal evidence that online promotions had provided a boost to the figures.

But the World Cup played a key role, getting consumers out and spending.

Andrew Wishart, UK economist with Capital Economics, a London-based data analysis firm, told Xinhua: "Food stores also continued to do well, boosted by the good weather and the knock-out stages of the World Cup."

He added that the increase meant that food sales up about 3 percent over the year, a turnaround on the contribution food sales had made to the economy in 2017 comparison when they failed to grow at all.