AfD extends nationwide lead over Merz's conservatives in latest poll

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has widened its lead over Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc in a new nationwide opinion poll released on Sunday.

The opposition AfD gained one percentage point to climb to 29% in the latest Insa poll commissioned by the Bild tabloid, while Merz's conservatives - made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) - remained unchanged at 20%.

The opposition Greens also gained one point to reach 14%, overtaking the Social Democrats (SPD) - the junior partner in government - who remained at 13%. The Left was also unchanged at 10%.

The poll comes a week after the AfD won regional elections in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt taking a record 43.8% of the vote.

Two more state elections are due next Sunday, with voters in Berlin and the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern heading to the polls, following local elections in the northern state of Lower Saxony this Sunday.

The next federal election is scheduled for 2029.