German beer sales higher in year's 1st half, given extra froth by soccer World Cup

German beer sales rose by 4.4 percent in the year's first half, gaining froth from the beginning of the country's run to the soccer World Cup title.

The Federal Statistical Office said Thursday that German-based breweries sold 4.79 billion liters (1.27 billion gallons) of beer in the January-June period.

That was mainly the result of a 14 percent year-on-year increase in June, the month in which the World Cup started. Sales in June totaled 970 million liters (256 million gallons) — the highest figure for the month since 2010, when the last World Cup was held.

The increase comes amid a long-term downward trend in German beer sales.