The right-wing opposition AfD would win in a hypothetical election with 27% of the vote, a survey shows
The vast majority of Germans are unhappy with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government, a recent YouGov poll has shown, with the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerging as the party that would win a hypothetical election.
Approval ratings for Merz’s coalition, which is comprised of the Christian Democratic bloc (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD), have been steadily declining since it came to power last May. Critics say Merz has failed to reverse the country’s economic decline and fulfil his campaign promises.
The YouGov poll, which was conducted between April 10 and April 13 among 1,763 respondents, showed that 79% of participants were dissatisfied with the coalition government’s performance – up 5% since March, and 24% higher since last June.
The trend is understood to be particularly pronounced among CDU/CSU voters, with only 34% of them satisfied with the coalition’s performance as of mid-April.
Meanwhile, if a general election had been held in Germany this past Sunday, the AfD would have prevailed with 27% of the vote, the YouGov poll indicated. The opposition right-wing party has emerged as the most popular for the first time since September 2025, according to the survey.
By contrast, the CDU/CSU posted its worst result since December 2021 with 23% of the vote. Support for the SPD is down to 13% – the Social Democrats’ worst showing since December 2019, according to the YouGov analysis.
Last month, the AfD made significant gains in the western German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wurttemberg, which are both outside the party’s traditional stronghold in the former East Germany.
In the 2025 general election, the AfD came in second with 20% of the vote, and has remained the most popular opposition party since.
It has campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, while also opposing Germany’s sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine. The AfD has also criticized Berlin’s decision to decouple from more affordable Russian energy.
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