Exit polls released after polls closed in the German Federal election revealed a neck-and-neck race between the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with their Bavarian allies and the left-wing Social Democrats (SPD).

The exit polls, published by Infratest dimap, put the SPD and the CDU along with their Christian Social Union (CSU) allies at 25 per cent each, making it unclear which party will be able to form the next coalition government until the actual results of the vote are announced.
In third place are the Green Party with 15 per cent, followed by the market liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), with 11 per cent each.

The close polling numbers between the SPD and the CDU/CSU come after the latter was able to make up ground from prior polls that gave the SPD a comfortable lead and fueled speculation that the SPD could form a left-wing government with the Greens and the far-left Marxist Left Party.