According to polling by the Forsa Institute commissioned by RTL Deutschland, the AfD continues to gain ground in party preference. It is now polling at 28 percent, an increase of one point from last week, placing it seven percentage points ahead of the Union, which remains stable at 21 percent. The Greens hold third place with 16 percent. The SPD and the Left Party both register 12 percent of support, though the Left Party lost one point compared to the previous week. The FDP remains at 4 percent.
A highly noticeable feature of the survey is the significant share of non-voters and undecided individuals. At 27 percent, this figure is clearly higher than the rate of non-voters seen in the 2025 federal election, meaning more than a quarter of eligible voters are currently politically unaligned.
In terms of perceived political competence, changes from the previous week are minor. Fourteen percent of voters trust the AfD to best deal with Germany’s problems-a one-point drop. The Union also lost one point, settling at 12 percent. The Greens and the Left Party both retain 6 percent, while the SPD dropped one point to reach 4 percent.
Overall public confidence in political parties remains low; 56 percent of citizens currently do not trust any party to adequately solve the country’s problems, a three percentage point increase from last week.
Regarding the work of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, citizen satisfaction remains almost unchanged at a low level: 14 percent of Germans are satisfied with his work, while 85 percent view his performance critically. Even among his own base, the evaluation is critical: 50 percent of CDU/CSU supporters are dissatisfied with Merz, compared to 48 percent who are satisfied. Similarly, among SPD (19 percent), Green (9 percent), Left (3 percent), and AfD (2 percent) supporters, Merz’s work has received little approval.
Meanwhile, economic expectations among Germans have continued to decline. Only 11 percent now anticipate an improvement in the economic situation in Germany. Conversely, 73 percent expect the economy to worsen, while 16 percent foresee no change. Compared to the week before, this mood has deteriorated again. While the share of those expecting better economic conditions remains low and unchanged, the proportion of pessimists has risen further, reaching the highest value recorded in recent weeks.
“These data were collected by Forsa on behalf of RTL Deutschland from July 28 to August 3, 2026, from a sample of 2,501 respondents.”
