BERLIN - German exports to countries bordering Russia grew by almost a third from January to October, while exports to Russia declined by around 40%, the federal statistical office said on Wednesday.

Excluding Russia, German exports to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), made up of former Soviet republics, rose 30% to 7.3 billion euros ($7.86 billion), the data showed.

At the same time, exports to Russia fell by 39.1% to 7.6 billion euros, pushing it to 32nd place among the most important recipient countries of German goods, from 22nd a year earlier.

"German exports to Russia have collapsed since the start of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed against Russia from March 2022, and have remained at a low level ever since," the office said.

Kazakhstan received most of the goods exported to CIS countries, with a 32% rise year-on-year to 2.8 billion euros.

Deliveries to the CIS states mainly comprised motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, with a 65% increase to 2.1 billion euros. Other important export goods were machinery, up 38.7% on the year, and chemical products, which increased 20.9%.

Russia, on the other hand, saw a 73.3% decline in German exports of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and a 49.3% decline in machinery. ($1 = 0.9282 euros) (Reporting by Rene Wagner, Writing by Linda Pasquini, Editing by Miranda Murray and Tomasz Janowski)