The income of charities registered in England and Wales was more than £61bn in 2013, up almost £3bn on the previous year, according to figures published by the Charity Commission.

The Commission publishes quarterly updates on sector income, which show that the income of charities on its register rose from £58.48bn to £61.43bn in the year to December 2013, an increase of more than 5 per cent.

The income of the largest charities – those with incomes over £10m – rose £2.38bn, from £33.5bn to £35.88bn, an increase of more than 7 per cent.

However Karl Wilding, director of public policy at the NCVO, told civilsociety.co.uk that the picture for the sector might not be as healthy as the figures suggested.

He said the Commission’s figures did not take into account new organisations entering the register, which could account for much of the growth.

“A small number of large new organisations could skew the picture completely,” he said. “You’ve got big organisations, often previously part of government, coming into the sector.”

Wilding also said headline figures could not be used as a barometer for the health of the whole sector, especially if most of the growth was concentrated in a small number of organisations.