Overview

• The latest INSA Meinungs­trend puts the AfD at 26 percent versus 24.5 percent for the CDU/CSU, widening a lead first registered in recent weeks.
• SPD support holds at 14.5 percent, bringing the Union–SPD total to 39 percent as the Greens register 11 percent, the Left 11.5, BSW 4, and the FDP 3.5.
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz drops to rank 18 in INSA’s politician ratings with a score of 35.5, while AfD co-leader Alice Weidel rises to rank 10 at 37.6.
• INSA director Hermann Binkert says Merz faces a difficult task reversing the trend, noting that Olaf Scholz failed to do so previously.
• The online survey of 2,002 adults was conducted September 19–22 with a ±2.5 percentage‑point margin of error, and recent YouGov polling also shows the AfD ahead; only a Union–AfD pairing would command a mathematical majority of about 50.5 percent.