Provisional results confirm that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest.

Exit polls in Germany's elections predict a win for the conservatives while the far-right Alternative for Germany is set to record big gains.

Merz declared victory on Sunday afternoon after his Christian Democratic Union party was projected to win approximately 30% of the vote.

The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the second largest party in parliament after Sunday's election, said Germany's likely next chancellor would be held hostage by left-wing parties that would seek to loosen tough fiscal rules.

The success of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is a sign of the times. Across Europe, far-right parties once on the fringe have gone mainstream.

The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) hailed her party’s “crazy success” after it doubled its result compared with the last federal election in 2021. Sitting alongside her co-leader Tino Chrupalla,

The map above shows the 2025 election results, and the one below shows the 2021 results. It's official: Friedrich Merz 's conservatives won the German election. But it could take weeks for the likely chancellor to weather through messy coalition talks and form a government -- particularly since Merz said he won't work with the party who came in second place.