German political parties on the political compass (2024)
Where the SPD, CDU, Greens, FDP, AfD, CSU, Die Linke, BSW and Free Voters stand on the economic and social axes, using 2024 expert survey data.
Written by Ottavio Malatacca · Updated
- Radical right
- Liberal
- Christian democratic
- Socialist
- Radical left
- Green
- No family
Reading the map
Germany is the only country on this site with a party in every corner of the compass. The FDP pairs an economic position as far right as the AfD's (+5.2 against +5.3) with a socially liberal one (−3.6), which makes it the only German party in the libertarian-right quadrant. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), founded in January 2024, does the opposite: it sits on the economic left (−4.4) but on the traditional side of the social axis (+4.1), alone in the authoritarian-left quadrant.
The AfD is the German party furthest towards the traditional/authoritarian pole (+8.8), and experts rate its economic position as the most blurred in the country (6.2 on a 0–10 scale of vagueness). The Greens are the most socially liberal (−6.8) and Die Linke the furthest left on economics (−7.3). The CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, are close on economics (+3.2 and +3.5); the CSU sits further towards the traditional pole (+5.1 against +3.1).
Climate policy separates German parties more than those of any other country here: the Greens score 0.6 (climate first, even at a cost to growth) and the AfD 9.4. Immigration shows the BSW's unusual profile again. At 8.6 towards a restrictive policy, it is closer to the CSU (7.5) and the AfD (9.9) than to any party of the left.
The survey was carried out in October and November 2024, as the governing coalition broke up, and before the federal election of February 2025. The vote shares are therefore from 2021, when the BSW did not yet exist and the Free Voters did not enter the Bundestag.
Every party, by the numbers
| Party | Family | Vote 2021 | Economic | Social |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SPD · Social Democratic Party Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
Socialist | 25.7% | −3.1 | −2.8 |
CDU · Christian Democratic Union Christlich Demokratische Union |
Christian democratic | 18.9% | +3.2 | +3.1 |
Grüne · Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen |
Green | 14.8% | −3.3 | −6.8 |
FDP · Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei |
Liberal | 11.5% | +5.2 | −3.6 |
AfD · Alternative for Germany Alternative für Deutschland |
Radical right | 10.3% | +5.3 | +8.8 |
CSU · Christian Social Union in Bavaria Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern |
Christian democratic | 6.2% | +3.5 | +5.1 |
Linke · The Left Die Linke |
Radical left | 4.9% | −7.3 | −5.4 |
BSW · Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht |
Radical left | — | −4.4 | +4.1 |
FW · Free Voters Freie Wähler |
No family | — | +2.9 | +3.4 |
Economic: −10 left, +10 right. Social: −10 libertarian, +10 authoritarian. A dash means the dataset records no vote share for that election.
Where they stand on specific issues
Expert ratings on CHES's own scales: 0 to 10, except European integration, which runs from 1 to 7. The bar shows how far along the scale each party sits.
| Party | EU integration | Redistribution | Services vs taxes | Immigration | Climate policy | LGBTQ+ rights | Civil liberties vs law and order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPD | 6.4 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 5.0 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 4.2 |
| CDU | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 7.1 |
| Grüne | 6.8 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| FDP | 5.8 | 8.1 | 8.8 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 3.0 | 2.7 |
| AfD | 1.9 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 | 8.2 | 9.1 |
| CSU | 5.5 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 7.5 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 7.6 |
| Linke | 3.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 1.1 | 3.0 |
| BSW | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 8.6 | 7.6 | 5.2 | 6.3 |
| FW | 4.0 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 6.3 | 7.0 |
What the scales mean
- EU integration
- 1 strongly against → 7 strongly in favour
- Redistribution
- 0 strongly in favour → 10 strongly against
- Services vs taxes
- 0 improve public services → 10 cut taxes
- Immigration
- 0 liberal policy → 10 restrictive policy
- Climate policy
- 0 climate first, even at a cost to growth → 10 growth first
- LGBTQ+ rights
- 0 strongly supports → 10 strongly opposes
- Civil liberties vs law and order
- 0 civil liberties → 10 tough on crime
Where would you be on this map?
Take the 15-question test, then compare your result with these parties.
Take the test →How these positions were calculated
Source: Chapel Hill Expert Survey 2024 (Rovny et al., 2025). Conversion to the compass and commentary: PolitiCompass.