Four in five Germans disapprove of Merz after his cabinet's first year in office — poll

Lead

One year after Friedrich Merz's conservative-led coalition took office, a large majority of Germans are unhappy with his performance. According to a survey conducted by the research institute Infratest dimap for the public broadcaster ARD, about 85% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Chancellor Merz's work, while only 16% said they were satisfied — a drop of five percentage points from April. The poll, carried out from May 4 to 6 among 1,303 participants, described the result as the worst ever recorded for a sitting German chancellor, as reported by TASS.

Coverage comparison

Discontent with Merz and his government is not limited to a single poll. Several surveys conducted in late April and May 2026 paint a consistently negative picture. An INSA poll commissioned by Bild am Sonntag, conducted April 29–30 among 1,004 people, found that over 70% of Germans were unhappy with how Merz handles his job)Skip and that more than 75% were frustrated with the government. Only 19% in that survey said they were satisfied with the chancellor's work. The same poll showed 76% of respondents dissatisfied with the ruling coalition's policies, with just 16% approving.

A separate YouGov survey for Welt am Sonntag, reported by Deutsche Welle, found that 47% of people in Germany would like to see an end to the coalition between Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). About 38% of those respondents favored new elections, while 9% preferred a minority government led by the CDU/CSU. Only 30% wanted the coalition to continue, with the rest undecided.

The same period brought another grim benchmark for Merz personally. An INSA poll conducted April 24–27 for Bild newspaper placed the chancellor in last place in a ranking of German politicians for the first time, dropping from 18th to 20th position with just 28.9 points, according to TASS. Even among CDU/CSU supporters, Merz scored only 55.1 points, ranking fifth within his own political camp. Only 10% of all respondents rated him positively (8–10 points), while 58% viewed him negatively (0–4 points). Defense Minister Boris Pistorius of the SPD topped that ranking.

Key claims

• Approval ratings: The Infratest dimap survey for ARD shows 85% dissatisfaction with Merz, up from a 39% approval rating in June 2025, one month after he took office. The same poll found 69% of respondents saying Merz is failing to fulfill his duties, with 25% disagreeing.
• Communication style: Only 14% of respondents in the ARD poll described Merz's tone as convincing, down 20 percentage points from August 2025, while 82% disagreed with that characterization.
• Coalition support: The YouGov survey for Welt am Sonntag found 47% wanting the coalition to end, versus 30% favoring its continuation.
• Party base erosion: In the INSA poll for Bild am Sonntag, INSA chief Hermann Binkert noted that even among CDU/CSU supporters, a majority were unhappy with the chancellor and government policies, saying "only a miracle can help here."
• Regional divide: Deutsche Welle reported a divide in popularity ratings between eastern and western German states, with 46% of people in eastern states expressing dissatisfaction, without providing full details in the excerpt.

Perspectives

The surveys highlight several dimensions of public discontent. The Infratest dimap poll (ARD) emphasizes historical context, noting that Merz's approval rating has fallen from 39% in June 2025 to single-digit satisfaction levels, and that the current figure is the worst for any sitting German chancellor. The poll was conducted May 4–6, 2026, exactly one year after the government took office on May 6, 2025.

The INSA polls add a nuance about the erosion of support within Merz's own party base. Binkert's comment suggests a structural problem beyond the chancellor's personal popularity: "Even among supporters of the bloc of the CDU and CSU, the majority are unhappy with the policies of the chancellor and his government." That finding is reinforced by the ranking in Bild, where Merz placed fifth among CDU/CSU voters, behind conservative figures such as CSU leader Markus Söder and North Rhine-Westphalia's Hendrik Wüst.

Meanwhile, the YouGov poll for Welt am Sonntag shows a clear public appetite for a change in government composition, though respondents differ on what should follow a dissolution. While 38% support new elections, 9% would accept a minority CDU/CSU government. This suggests that while dissatisfaction is broad, there is no consensus on an alternative arrangement.

None of the polls indicate a concrete reason for the decline in a single factor whiccould be attributed solely to one issue. The coverage mentions ongoing coalition disputes on social security, labor reforms, and energy policy, as well as the economic fallout from the Iran war, but the surveys themselves measure general sentiment rather than isolate causalities. The dissatisfaction appears to be a cumulative judgment on the government's performance since taking office in May 2025.