Foreign visitors' spending in UK up 2 pct yy in July- ONS

(Corrects to 'billion' from 'million' in para 2)

LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Foreign visitors' spending in Britain in July was 2 percent higher than a year earlier, while Britons' spending abroad dropped 1 percent, the first official figures since Britain voted to leave the European Union showed on Friday.

The Office for National Statistics said Britain's earnings from foreign tourism were 1.79 billion pounds ($2.33 billion) in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, while British residents spent 3.55 billion pounds on visits abroad.

There was a 1 percent annual increase in the number of foreign visitors to Britain and the number of British visits abroad on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Sterling's sharp fall against the dollar and the euro after the June 23 vote had been expected to spur a boost to tourism into Britain. ($1 = 0.7693 pounds) (Reporting by David Milliken and William Schomberg; Editing by Costas Pitas)