Scotch and salmon exports up

The value of Scotch whisky and Scottish salmon exports grew by more than £500 million last year, new figures show.

Official HMRC statistics valued Scotch whisky exports from the UK at £4.3 billion in 2017, up 9 per cent (£356.3m) on the previous year.

This is equivalent to more than 1.2bn bottles of the spirit being sent overseas.

Exports of single malt grew by 14.2 per cent in 2017 to £1.1bn.

The value of salmon exports went up 35 per cent (£155.5m) in the same period, reaching £600m.

Europe was the top export market for both products on value and volume.