German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has conceded defeat as the CDU/CSU secures victory in Germanys national election. The right-wing AfD made history by finishing second with 20.4% of the vote, marking its strongest national result ever.

Germany's centre-right CDU/CSU bloc has won national elections by a large margin, with all constituencies counted, paving the way for leader Friedrich Merz to be the next chancellor, as could be seen on the website of the federal returning officer.

CDU/CSU secured 28.6 percent of the vote, followed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 20.8 percent and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 16.4 percent, according to the preliminary results released by the Federal Returning Officer in the early hours of Monday.