THE Welsh Conservatives have labelled a significant drop in Welsh exports as ‘extremely troubling’.

Welsh government figures, released today, show an £89 million 'fall for the four quarters leading up to and including 2014 quarter three, compared with the previous four quarters'.

A summary of the statistics also says looking at 2014 quarter three in isolation, total exports (by value) for Wales were down on the corresponding quarter in 2013 by 612 million pounds

And that Wales had the largest fall of the UK countries and English regions, Welsh Conservative shadow minister for business, William Graham AM, said: “This is an extremely troubling drop in exports that will clearly send tremors through our business community.

“There is far more that Labour ministers could be doing to support Welsh businesses in their efforts to tap into overseas markets and they must not allow these figures to drop further.

“Labour has its hand on a number of economic levers that could grow the Welsh economy and exports play a significant part in that.

“Always anxious to trumpet any increase in exports, it is sadly inevitable that today’s development will be greeted with near-silence.

“Our exports market remains fragile and I urge the Labour government to collaborate with UK colleagues and ensure a greater focus on exports and business support.”