THE North East is not feeling the strain of Britain's goods trade deficit on a local level, the North East Chamber of Commerce has said.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics have indicated the difference between goods exported and imported increased from £8.6bn to £8.7bn between November and October, while the overall deficit including services as well as goods went up from £4bn to £4.1bn. The shift was fuelled by imports of oil and aircraft.

While the deficit has meandered around the £4bn mark on a national level since the middle of last year, it was closer to half this amount in February of last year.

By contrast, the NECC says the North East remains the only region in England that exports more than it imports. Driven by exports in manufacturing and the presence of large companies such as Nissan, firms exporting within the region have had success selling products to emerging markets such as the Middle East and China.

In figures released in December, the North East’s exports were valued at £2,976m in the third quarter compared to £63,956m UK-wide. The North East figures were up 26% on the same period last year, compared to 15% across the UK. But while the UK figures marked a 3% drop on the previous quarter, the North East performance was unchanged.

NECC head of member relations Jonathan Walker said: “We have particularly high-value exports in the North East which have continued to do well despite the effects of the recession. The numbers dipped a little due to the world economy but the recovery has been constant.

“You do see a higher level of imports in the South. A lot of that is retail and food, neither of which is particularly strong in this region compared to some others.

“The data from the North East is also slightly skewed by the big players we have in the automotive and chemical sector, but these figures are being achieved with a relatively small number of exporters. There’s a lot of untapped potential here.”