Value of Scots exports falls £920m

In terms of individual sectors, manufacturers of food products and beverages were the largest source of exports.

But food and drink exports were also estimated to have fallen by £250m to £4.8bn, with whisky exports alone dropping by 7 per cent over the year to £4bn.

The food and drink sector as a whole was Scotland’s largest exporter and accounted for £4.8bn or more than 17 per cent of the Scottish international export total.

The second largest industry is Legal, accounting, management, architecture, engineering, technical testing and analysis activities (£2.3 billion, 8.5 per cent of all exports), followed by the manufacture of refined petroleum and chemical products (£2.1 billion, 7.8 per cent of all exports), Mining and Quarrying (£1.9 billion, 6.9 per cent of all exports) and Wholesale and retail trade (£1.8 billion, 6.5 per cent of all exports).

Scotland’s exports have risen more than 17 per cent since 2010, when they totalled £23.4bn.

In 2014, £11.6bn or 42 per cent of international exports were destined for countries within the European Union. Within the EU, the Netherlands was the largest market.

Scotland’s deputy first minister John Swinney said the figures showed a “mixed picture”.

But the Scottish Conservatives said the slowdown in export sales is a worrying trend as the SNP Government had set a target for Scottish businesses to deliver a fifty per cent increase in the value of international exports by 2017.

The Torys said businesses can achieve greater support to help them grow through competitive tax rates.

The UK Government has put in place a package of support to help businesses in Scotland grow their overseas trade - including the ‘Exporting is GREAT’ campaign - which will be rolling out across Scotland in the next few weeks.

Scottish Conservative enterprise spokesman Murdo Fraser said: “These figures show a worrying slowdown in the growth of Scottish exports.

“Yet again we see the Scottish economy falling back under the SNP.

“If the Scottish Government wants to achieve their target of 50 per cent increase in exports next year, they must get serious about achieving this.

“The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly pushed for more initiatives to allow more of our local firms to sell their goods abroad.

“Clearly the SNP have taken their eye off the ball. They need to end their obsession with constitutional change and start coming up with measures to help Scottish business.

“Hitting Scottish businesses with additional business rates, as the SNP propose, will only do more damage.”