Germany is due to hold parliamentary election on 23 February 2025.
In November 2024, a snap election was announced after the collapse of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats party.
In a statement to government, the Chancellor announced that parliament (Bundestag) would be holding a vote of confidence on 16 December 2024. This would allow for new elections to take place in February.
Germany is a federal parliamentary republic with a chancellor who is the head of government, and a president who is the head of state and whose main responsibilities are representative.
The country consists of 16 states (Länder) which each have their own constitution and are largely autonomous regarding their internal organisation.
Members of parliament serve four-year terms. Half of the members are elected directly from Germany’s 299 constituencies, the other half via party lists in Germany’s 16 Länder.
Germany has a population of 84.4 million and around 61 million registered voters. Election turnout in the 2021 election was 76.5%.