THE Scotch whisky industry has arrested the recent decline in exports amid “encouraging” signs in key markets, figures published today have revealed.

The value of Scotch exports fell by three per cent to £1.7 billion in the first six months of the year,

data from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) shows.

The decline is a marked improvement on figures revealed at the same stage last year, which showed a drop of 11 per cent compared with the first six months of 2013.

And it comes after the latest annual export figures, based on whisky released for sale overseas from bonded warehouses, published in April, showed a seven per cent drop on 2013. Scotch exports totalled £3.95bn in 2014, according to the SWA.

While figures for the first six months of this year show a drop in export values, SWA spokeswoman Rosemary Gallagher said the industry is “feeling pretty positive about the future”.

Ms Gallagher said: “Obviously there is still a decline in the first six months of this year, but it is a much smaller decline than the same time last year – it’s a three per cent fall in value compared to an 11 per cent fall in value, so things are heading in the right direction.

“There are a number of reasons for that, [including] improvements in some key markets and just things returning to hopefully sustainable growth, after the record-breaking growth of previous years.”

The first-half figures show a five per cent increase in single malt exports to £406m. Exports of bottled blended malt grew by 16 per cent to £22m, although bottled blended Scotch saw a five per cent fall in exports to £1.2bn.

China was one market that improved significantly for Scotch exports in the first half, after years of sales coming under pressure from austerity measures and, more recently, slowing economic growth.

Direct exports to the world’s second-biggest economy leapt by 46 per cent to £22m, having dropped by 23 per cent in 2014. The SWA said the upturn reflects the success of efforts by the industry to market blended Scotch to Chinese consumers. That category saw a 42 per cent rise in exports to China.

There was a return to growth for exports to Japan, which rose by 7.2 per cent to £35m, after years of decline. Ms Gallagher said the interest shown in Japanese whisky had been good for boosting sales across the industry as a whole.

Elsewhere, she pointed to growth emerging in smaller African countries, where efforts by the industry have been boosted by winning Geographical Indication (GI) status in 17 markets. The legal breakthrough means the industry is able to crack down on sales of counterfeit whisky in those countries.

The US remains the most valuable destination for Scotch, with exports to the country broadly steady at £326.5m between January and June.

Premium blends are said to be performing well in the market as consumers seek quality, said the SWA, which also pointed to a 20 per cent increase in the value of exports to Canada, at £36m. And Mexico became a top 10 market for Scotch after seeing an 11.6 per cent increase in exports to £43.5m amid growing interest among young consumers.

Other growth areas included Poland, where exports grew by 45 per cent in value to £20m, and Turkey, up 28 per cent to £32m. There was also a marginal increase in Italy after years of decline.

However, exports to Brazil plunged by nearly 30 per cent to £28.7m as a result of economic turmoil. The sanctions imposed on Russia in light of the Ukraine crisis were cited as it fell out of the top 20 markets, while the value of exports to India dropped nearly eight per cent to £33.3m due to “ongoing difficulties in the business climate”.