Far-right Alternative for Germany reaches 22% approval rate in polls

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party gained a 22% approval rating in a national election poll recently, fuelling concerns about the increase in extremism.

The AfD gained two points to reach its score of 22%, which put it just four percentage points behind the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU). The weekly survey was carried out by the Insa polling institute for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Insa's poll put the CDU/CSU at 26%, meaning it lost a percentage point compared to last week. The survey found support levels for the other major parties unchanged, with the Social Democrats led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz at 18%, the Green Party at 14%, the pro-business FDP at 7% and the Left Party at 5%.

A total of 1,266 eligible voters were surveyed between July 17 and July 21, with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points.

A recent survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of dpa showed that 57% of German citizens currently consider the AfD to be an extreme right-wing party.

The same survey found 19% see the AfD as a conservative party.