Idaho exports totaled more than $6.1 billion in 2012, up 3.5 percent from 2011, the Idaho Department of Commerce said Tuesday. Fourth-quarter sales also broke a record, rising 36.7 percent to $1.9 billion.

Transportation equipment showed a 449 percent increase to $668 million. The biggest piece of that increase came in aircraft parts. Global sales of civilian aircraft and related parts rose more than 2,000 percent from 2011 totals to $531.7 million, thanks to significant fourth-quarter sales, the department said.

Food and agriculture exports rose 13 percent to $948 million.

“The success of our agricultural exports abroad goes a long way in continuing agriculture's legacy of bolstering the state's economy and serving as the lifeblood of many of our rural communities,” said Celia Gould, State Department of Agriculture director.

The semiconductor and industrial sector, which accounts for more than half of all Idaho exports, showed $3.1 billion sales to other countries, down 3.7 percent from 2011. Mining products dropped by more than a third to $572 million.

Exports of home and office furnishings rose 51 percent to $155 million.

Canada is the biggest buyer of Idaho exports. Sales to Canada were $1.3 billion, down 20 percent from 2011.

Singapore was the No. 2 buyer at $965 million, up 58.3 percent. Exports to China rose by 29 percent to $810 million.

Other top buyers were South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, France, and Australia.