Why Germany’s Gen Z is leaning towards the far-right

German voters will head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament, which will shape the country’s governance for the next four years.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has seen a surge in popularity, even gaining the support of tech billionaire Elon Musk.

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A key question emerging ahead of the elections is why an increasing number of young people are shifting towards the far right.

Gen Z is showing a growing preference for right-wing politics. As recently as 2021, many young German voters were focused on environmental protection and social justice, but the past few years have seen a massive shift.

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What has led to this change? Why are Gen Z voters moving towards the far right?

How Gen Z is driving the rise of far-right

The growing trend of young voters backing the AfD is becoming increasingly evident across **Germany** .

Polls ahead of Sunday’s election, along with the AfD’s strong performance in regional elections last year, indicate that the party has evolved from a regional presence into a national force.

In the 2024 European Parliament elections, **German exit polls** showed that 16 per cent of voters under 24, both male and female, supported the AfD - an 11-point increase from 2019.

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If last year’s European elections are any indication, this election could see a major shift. The CDU/CSU alliance emerged as the most popular choice among young German voters, followed by the far-right AfD.

Several surveys also suggest that Germany’s Gen Z, generally defined as those born between 1997 and 2012, is leaning further to the right. Many from this generation will be voting for the first time on Sunday.

Previously, young German voters were more inclined to support environmental protection and social justice causes.

However, recent years have brought new challenges, from the Ukraine war and an economic downturn to rising geopolitical tensions, especially with Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Unlike their parents, who have longstanding political affiliations, Germany’s Gen Z voters are more flexible in their choices, prioritising what aligns best with their immediate concerns.

Ruediger Maas, head of the Institute for Generation Research, told AFP that younger voters may be less concerned about the AfD as “Generation Z does not have the same relationship to World War II as their elders.”

Maas also pointed out a geographical divide among conservative-leaning young voters. In western **Germany** , they are more likely to back the CDU/CSU, whereas, in the former communist east, support for the AfD is stronger.

A 2024 Pew Research study found that 26 per cent of German men viewed the AfD positively, compared to 11 per cent of women. The proportion of men holding this opinion has risen by 10 points since 2022, according to BBC.

Rising anxieties among young people have been fuelled by a flood of unsettling video clips, both real and fake, alongside extreme political messaging on TikTok and other social media platforms.

Women were more likely to express concerns about their rights and those of minority groups, while men were found to be more focused on conservative values, which are less centred on rights.

Ruediger Maas told BBC that left-wing parties often talk about themes such as feminism, equality, and women’s rights.

“Overall, men don’t see themselves in these themes,” he said. “That is why they have a tendency to vote further right.”

Across Europe, a broader rightward shift is also underway, with immigration emerging as a central issue - one that left-leaning parties struggle to address due to their more liberal ideological stance.

Eric Engelhardt, 23, head of Thuringia’s Young Alternatives, told CNN, “Migration is the mother of all crises. We have a lot of illegal immigrants in this country… who are not behaving. And I think that many of the problems we have today… are also caused by migration, by uncontrolled mass immigration.”

Notably, AfD leader **Alice Weidel** told the media outlet in January that if elected, she would immediately begin “sending out all the illegals”.

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How Gen Z is helping spread the message

Beyond gender, migration, and economic concerns, social media is also playing a huge role in shaping political preferences.

While mainstream parties have been slower to adapt to digital platforms, the CDU has made efforts to catch up by setting up a pre-election social media unit led by 32-year-old lawmaker Philipp Amthor.

“Of course, we are concerned about the AfD’s success among young people, the base of tomorrow’s voters,” Amthor told AFP.

He explained that the team is cautious about engaging with far-right disinformation and “trolls” but aims to make the CDU’s image more appealing to younger voters.

Mauritius Dorn from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) told BBC that other parties were slow to recognise the influence of platforms like TikTok, leaving them struggling to build a strong presence.

Meanwhile, AfD influencer Celina Brychcy, a 25-year-old TikToker with over 167,000 followers, 53 per cent of whom are male and 76 per cent aged between 18 and 35, told the British broadcaster that she does not earn money from promoting the AfD but does it because she believes in the cause and wants to “get a message across.”

Her political priorities include reinstating military service, increasing support for mothers who want or need to stay at home, and enforcing stricter border controls.

Embracing ‘remigration’

Alice Weidel has openly embraced the term “remigration,” a term widely understood to refer to the mass “return” or deportation of people with a migrant background.

A key talking point among Europe’s far-right, some argue that legal residents would not be compelled to leave. However, critics describe “remigration” as nothing more than a euphemism for a racist mass deportation agenda.

Weidel has also vowed to dismantle wind farms, calling them “windmills of shame,” withdraw from the EU’s asylum system and remove gender studies professors.

According to BBC, support for the AfD is not merely a protest vote, despite frustration with Germany’s traditional ruling parties.

Many genuinely believe the party could drive radical change in the country.

Although other parties continue to refuse coalition agreements with the AfD, the far-right party saw a breakthrough in January when a non-binding motion was passed in the German parliament with its support for the first time.

While some in Germany and across Europe continue to view the far right as extremist and even anti-democratic, efforts to “normalise” the movement appear to be succeeding, particularly among the younger generation.

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German elections 2025: Meet the candidates

Four contenders are in the race to become Germany’s next leader: current Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the centre-left Social Democrats, Friedrich Merz of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck representing the environmentalist Greens, and Alice Weidel from the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Pre-election surveys place Merz’s CDU-led bloc in the lead with approximately 30% support, followed by AfD at around 20%. Scholz’s Social Democrats and Habeck’s Greens trail further behind.

Merz is considered the frontrunner to succeed Scholz as chancellor, but the formation of a governing coalition remains uncertain. All mainstream parties have ruled out collaborating with AfD.

Germany has 59.2 million eligible voters in a population of 84 million. The **new Bundestag** , the country’s 630-seat lower house of parliament, will ultimately select the next chancellor, the German equivalent of a prime minister.

With inputs from agencies