Berlin, Germany – The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has recorded a historic jump and an unprecedented record support of 29% in the latest national opinion poll, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported on Sunday, May 17, 2026. This strengthens its position as a dominant political force and causes a violent shake-up in the country’s party map.
INSA poll: Record numbers for the right wing and dysfunction hits the ruling coalition
According to details of an opinion poll conducted by the prestigious INSA institute for the widely circulated daily newspaper Bild, support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party rose by one percentage point compared to last week, achieving its highest ever result in opinion polls across the Federal Republic of Germany.
Meanwhile, the conservative coalition, comprising the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), led by current Chancellor Friedrich Merz, continued its downward spiral, with its support dropping another percentage point from the previous week to just 22%.
This is the lowest and worst result recorded for the Christian alliance in INSA polls in over four years. This reflects the declining popularity of Chancellor Merz and his handling of the current economic and political crises.
Social Democrats in decline, Greens on the rise
The situation was no better for the minority partner in the coalition government; the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) saw its support drop by one percentage point, registering a meager 12%.
This decline allowed the opposition Green Party to jump to third place, overtaking the Social Democrats, with support reaching 14% after a 1.5 percentage point increase from the previous week. This is the highest level the party has recorded in INSA polls in the past two and a half years. Meanwhile, the Left Party (Die Linke) also experienced a decline, dropping one percentage point to settle at 10%.
Continued rise since the February elections and institute forecasts
The latest poll was conducted with a sample of 1,203 German adults between May 11 and 15.
These figures are consistent with the predictions of other German polling institutes, which recently placed support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party between 25% and 28%, while forecasting the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to fluctuate between 22% and 24%.
It is worth noting that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which established itself as a major opposition force by securing 20.8% of the vote in the last general election in February, continues to successfully mobilize and expand its base of support. It is thus capitalizing on widespread frustration and the persistent decline in approval ratings regarding the performance of the ruling party and the policies of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
