THE country that gave North-East football Philippe Albert and Simon Mignolet is now one of the major recipients of exports from the region.

New figures show Belgium welcomed more than £1bn of North-East goods in the last 12 months, representing a 393 per cent rise on the previous period.

Finland and Hungary were also higher on the list, fuelled by cars from Sunderland’s Nissan plant, receiving £271m and £198m worth of exports respectively.

However, the results, from HM Revenue and Customs, show the Belgian figures to be skewed, owing to the fact the majority of goods headed for the country are taken to the port of Zeebrugge, before being moved elsewhere.

The Netherlands remains the largest single market for North-East goods, with £1.56bn spent in the past 12 months, followed by the US, with £1.48bn.

A spokeswoman told The Northern Echo: “A lot of exports used to go through France and on to other countries.

“However, in the last few years, they have been taken to Europe via Zeebrugge, and about 90 per cent go on to other countries.”

The overall value of exports for the North-East for the last 12 months up to the end of December stood at £12.4bn, with the region remaining the only one in England to have a positive balance of trade, which stood at £4.45bn.

The top five sectors for exports over the year were road vehicles, specialist machinery, medical products, chemicals and iron and steel.