BERLIN, December 3. /TASS/. The support for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) has fallen to a record low of 22% just over six months after he took office, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Forsa sociological service commissioned by NTV and RTL TV channels.

The rating of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz (SPD), was slightly higher by the end of his term of office at 23%.

Merz’s rating slipped by one percentage point compared to the previous week to the worst value in the surveys conducted by Forsa. At the same time, 76% of respondents are dissatisfied with Merz's activities.

According to NTV, it took Scholz more than two and a half years to achieve such a low figure: in the second week of July 2024, 76% were also dissatisfied with the Social Democrat.

Sociologists found that economic expectations also deteriorated significantly from the previous week. In particular, 63% of the survey participants expect the economic situation to worsen in the coming years (plus three percentage points). The share of those who expect the situation to improve decreased by one percentage point to 14%, and only 20% now believe that the situation will remain unchanged.

The survey was conducted from November 25 to December 1. It was attended by 2,501 people.