Political parties in Germany - statistics & facts
38 percent of teenagers in Germany believe that Germany will be in a worse situation in three years than it is now. This is reflective, at least in part, of the lack of trust that young people have in the current political parties and the policies they are introducing.
Recently, the political landscape in Germany has become a little more unstable with the far-right party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) gaining popularity. In the 2024 European elections, the AfD was the party that received the second-highest share of votes, 16.9 percent, in Germany. The hard anti-immigrant stance that the party has, causes tension and left many refugees and immigrants, who can be some of the most vulnerable people in society, feeling threatened. Most recent figures show the AfD to have around 30,000 members.
The political parties with the largest membership numbers in Germany are the SPD and the CDU. They have also been established for a relatively long time with the former being founded in 1869 (making it Germany’s oldest party) and the latter after the end of World War II between 1945 and 1950. When it comes to where the parties stand on the political spectrum the CDU is positioned on the right and has policies such as wanting to tighten restrictions on asylum seekers being let into Germany and reducing taxes to benefit top earners. The SPD sits on the left of the spectrum and often concerns itself with policies relating to social welfare. Traditionally, they aim to place the higher tax burden on the rich in order to aid low and medium-earners, however, there have been splits in the party over the years with some members wanting to take a more conservative approach.
Besides the SDP and the CDU/CSU, Die Grünen (the Green Party), Die Linke (the Left Party), the FDP, and the AfD all play an active role in Germany's political landscape. All parties currently hold seats in the German parliament, called der Bundestag in Germany, and all champion different causes and policies. The variety of political parties allows voters to find which policies align with their own values best before making a decision.
The main goal of most of the larger parties is to provide governmental structure on a federal state or national level. The current German government is ruled by a coalition between the SPD, FDP and Die Grünen. Previously there had been a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, and this government formation is in fact the first time that the CDU/CSU has not formed a part of the ruling coalition since 2005. Federal states in Germany usually also have party coalitions.
Right-wing upturn
Recently, the political landscape in Germany has become a little more unstable with the far-right party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) gaining popularity. In the 2024 European elections, the AfD was the party that received the second-highest share of votes, 16.9 percent, in Germany. The hard anti-immigrant stance that the party has, causes tension and left many refugees and immigrants, who can be some of the most vulnerable people in society, feeling threatened. Most recent figures show the AfD to have around 30,000 members.
Most dominant political parties in Germany
The political parties with the largest membership numbers in Germany are the SPD and the CDU. They have also been established for a relatively long time with the former being founded in 1869 (making it Germany’s oldest party) and the latter after the end of World War II between 1945 and 1950. When it comes to where the parties stand on the political spectrum the CDU is positioned on the right and has policies such as wanting to tighten restrictions on asylum seekers being let into Germany and reducing taxes to benefit top earners. The SPD sits on the left of the spectrum and often concerns itself with policies relating to social welfare. Traditionally, they aim to place the higher tax burden on the rich in order to aid low and medium-earners, however, there have been splits in the party over the years with some members wanting to take a more conservative approach.
Smaller parties
Besides the SDP and the CDU/CSU, Die Grünen (the Green Party), Die Linke (the Left Party), the FDP, and the AfD all play an active role in Germany's political landscape. All parties currently hold seats in the German parliament, called der Bundestag in Germany, and all champion different causes and policies. The variety of political parties allows voters to find which policies align with their own values best before making a decision.
Current political formations
The main goal of most of the larger parties is to provide governmental structure on a federal state or national level. The current German government is ruled by a coalition between the SPD, FDP and Die Grünen. Previously there had been a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, and this government formation is in fact the first time that the CDU/CSU has not formed a part of the ruling coalition since 2005. Federal states in Germany usually also have party coalitions.
