England’s World Cup run and the summer heatwave boosted the UK economy to its highest level in almost a year.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product(GDP) rose 0.6 per cent compared to the previous three months - the highest growth since August last year.
And GDP increased by 0.3 per cent in the month of July – which incorporated England’s knockout stages run to the World Cup semi-final – alone.
Rob Kent-Smith, from the ONS, said after the figures were released on Monday: “Services grew particularly strongly, with retail sales performing well, boosted by warm weather and the World Cup."
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He added: “The construction sector also bounced back after a weak start to the year.”
The growth figures would have been even better had England finished the job against Croatia in the semi-final.
An England fan pictured watching the World Cup semi-final in July, as it emerged the team's fun to the final helped boost the UK economyVictoria Jones/PAPubs, supermarkets and food delivery companies across the nation had expected an overall £2.7billion boost in takings if England reached the final.