The figures, based on tracking by advertising think tank Credos, found that the increase had brought the UK’s advertising and research industry back in line with its pre-Covid-19 growth trajectory and placed the UK second to the US worldwide.

The surge in advertising exports have also been met with a sharp increase in UK imports, valued at almost £12bn – a 70% rise from 2020’s figure of £7bn.

The UK retained an overall trade surplus of advertising and marketing services in 2021, contributing a net £3bn to balance of payments.

The US remains the largest recipient of UK exports, receiving £3.9bn worth of advertising and market research services, followed by Germany (£1.36 billion) and the Republic of Ireland (£894 million).

The top 10 recipients of UK advertising are largely EU countries, with the addition of Australia in seventh receiving exports worth £538m.

Kemi Badenoch, secretary of state for the Department of Business and Trade, said: “The advertising industry is one of the UK’s strongest exports and these record figures provide a great boost as we aim to sell £1 trillion of goods and services a year to the world by the end of the decade.

“I look forward to working closely with the industry to help businesses expand into new markets and help drive further economic growth in the years ahead.”

Stephen Woodford, chief executive at the Advertising Association, said: “It is terrific to see such strong growth figures from the UK’s world-leading advertising and marketing services, showing the innovative way our industry has responded to the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“We prepare now to support the next decade of UK advertising growth, through our productive partnership between the industry, through the UK Advertising Exports Group, and the Department for Business and Trade.”