Merz’s bloc hits new low as AfD widens poll lead

BERLIN

Support for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc has fallen to 18 percent, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reached 30 percent, a nationwide INSA poll showed.

The survey for Bild, published on Oct. 3, marked the conservatives’ lowest reading and the AfD’s highest in the pollster’s records. The AfD gained one percentage point from the previous week, while the CDU/CSU lost one, widening the gap to 12 points.

The Social Democrats (SPD), Merz’s coalition partner, and the opposition Greens each stood at 14 percent. The Left party received 10 percent.

The poll also found that 79 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Merz’s performance, with the same proportion dissatisfied with the government overall.

INSA surveyed 1,202 people and put the maximum margin of error at 2.9 percentage points.

The findings follow regional election defeats for Merz’s Christian Democrats in Saxony-Anhalt on Sept. 6 and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sept. 20, where the AfD finished first.

Merz described the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania result as a “disaster” but pledged to press ahead with reforms.

The chancellor, who took office in May 2025 promising to revive Germany’s economy, has struggled to advance economic and welfare reforms with his SPD coalition partners.