NORTH-EAST exports rose to £3.104bn in the first quarter of the year.

The HMRC figures for January to March show an increase of £141m – 4.75pc – compared to the same period last year.

There was also a 1.22 per cent rise in the 12-month rolling total, from £11.58bn to the end of December 2013 to £11.723bn in the 12 months to the end of March 2014, the second highest of the English regions.

Canada, Cyprus and Pakistan are proving particularly lucrative for local exporters.

Exports to Canada rose 31.9 per cent to £224.22m from this time last year, exports to Cyprus were up 29.45 per cent to £11.5m, and to Pakistan rose 21.2 per cent to £6.27m.

The Netherlands remains the largest single market for North East goods with a 12-month export value of £1.62bn to the end of March 2014. Other top markets are the USA £928m; France £886m; Spain £794m; and Russia £729m.

The region’s fastest-growing markets in the year ending in March were Hungary £91m, up 346 per cent; Belgium £498m, up 162 per cent; Morocco £51m, up 32 per cent; and Finland £162m, up 53 per cent.

The region’s top sectors in the last year were vehicles £4.684bn, down £248m; medicinal and pharmaceutical £1.416bn, down £564m; iron and steel £1.245bn, up £116m; organic chemicals £795m, down £15m; specialised machinery £576m, up £48m.