The value of goods exported overseas by Scottish producers fell by £920 million to £27.5 billion last year.
Official data from Scotland’s chief statistician, Roger Halliday, shows a 3.2% decrease in international trade when oil and gas is excluded.
The combined EU market accounted for £11.56bn of sales in the period but that represented a fall of £985m on 2013 as economic issues continued to take their toll on the trading bloc and the strength of the pound caused exporters problems.
The single largest overseas market for Scottish exporters remained the USA with sales of £3.98bn in 2014.
However, the majority of Scottish export sales remain within the UK.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the exports stats showed a “mixed picture” and said he hoped a new trade strategy would provide a boost.
“The Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies are supporting more companies than ever with their export ambitions, with SDI helping over 2,500 companies to develop skills to internationalise, access new markets or increase international revenues.
“Separate figures published last year also estimate the number of exporting businesses in Scotland has increased every year since 2011, to around 11,100 businesses.
“Our new Trade and Investment Strategy, which will be published shortly, will set out a clear approach to boosting exports further, increasing the number of exporting companies and attracting new investment to Scotland.”
Of the £76bn export sales recorded in 2014, a total of £48.5bn were either shipped south of the border or to Northern Ireland, a 3.2% improvement on the £47bn recorded 12 months earlier.
The dominant services accounted for £26.97bn of domestic exports with financial services leading the way at £7.43bn and the wholesale, retail trade and motor repair sectors also making a significant contribution.
Food, drink and tobacco sales led the domestic manufacturing output with a combined £4.01bn of sales although the distilling, rectifying and blending of spirits like whisky fell £55m to £530m.
The UK figures also show a £4.75bn contribution from the utilities sector a drop of £875m on the year and a flat construction performance at £1.63bn.
Scotland Office Minister Andrew Dunlop said: “These figures underline the central importance of the UK’s single domestic market to the Scottish economy.
“A growing UK economy has led to a welcome £1.5bn increase in Scottish exports to other parts of the United Kingdom.”