The number of overseas tourists heading to Britain in July broke through the four million mark for the first time ever, official figures revealed Friday.   

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show July as the highest month ever for inbound tourists to the Britain since official records began in 1961.  The July total saw a six percent rise compared to the same month last yeay, said ONS. 

As an added boost to the British economy, the overseas visitors spent 3.8 billion U.S. dollars in Britain, the best month for spend on record.   

Strong growth in visits from North America continued in July with a record 650,000 visits, up 9 percent on last year. 

British Tourism Minister John Glen said: "These record figures show the continued strength of this important sector and the UK's global position as a must-visit destination."  

 VisitBritain director Patricia Yates said that the best-ever monthly figures underpinned a strong first half of the year for inbound tourism.  "This sustained growth demonstrates Britain's continued ability to compete internationally for visitors and shows that tourism, one of our most valuable export industries, is an increasingly important driver of economic growth across our nations and regions," Yates commented.

The ONS figures have brought the total number of overseas visits to Britain from January to July this year to 23.1 million, up 8 percent on the same period last year and a record year to date. 

Spending by visitors during this period hit a record 18 billion U.S. dollars, up 9 percent on the same period last year.   There were 2.9 million overseas visits from North America from January to July, up 21 percent on the same period last year, 15.1 million overseas visits from EU countries, Britain's largest visitor-generating region, up 4 percent on last year.   

Visits from the rest of the world, which includes Australia, China, the Gulf markets and India, were up to a record 3.6 million from January to July this year, up 18 percent on the same period last year.