Young Germans leaned to the far ends of the political spectrum in Sunday’s election, with most backing Die Linke (The Left) and the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), or Alternative for Germany.

While Germany’s Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party secured more than 28 percent of the vote overall, winning the federal election and defeating incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), few young Germans threw their support behind its leader, the 69-year-old Friedrich Merz.

The AfD came in second overall, with 20 percent, the biggest result for a right-wing party since the Second World War. The Left, popular with the youth, scored 8.7 percent – an unexpected result seen as a success as earlier polls estimated a lower number of backers.

The stakes were high. A record-breaking 83.5 percent of people cast their votes, the highest turnout since German unification in 1990.

Merz is likely to become chancellor, but is set to inherit a divided nation that is split over immigration, a weak economy, and ideological differences.

Here’s what we know about how young Germans voted in the election:

What do we know about how young people voted?

Die Linke won over young Germans. The party secured 25 percent of the votes among 18- to 24-year-olds – the highest among all parties and a rise of 17 points from the 2021 federal election result, according to an exit poll conducted by Infratest Dimap, a major German psephology firm, for ARD, the German public broadcaster.

The AfD, seen as the biggest election-night winner after coming in second and doubling its vote share from the 2021 result, focused on harsher immigration policies, the economy, and its Russia-friendly position, which drew in more voters. The far-right party was a highly popular choice among those aged 18 to 24, securing about 21 percent of the vote – up 14 points from 2021.

The CDU and Christian Social Union centre-right bloc won the election, securing 208 seats out of 630 in the Bundestag. Most of its support came from people aged 45 and over. On the contrary, only 13 percent of those aged 18 to 24 voted for the conservatives.

As the party does not have an absolute majority, it will have to form a coalition to gain 316 seats – the minimum required to form a government.

The centre-left SPD saw its worst result since World War II. Scholz announced he was stepping down as party leader, but the SPD could remain in government as Merz seeks possible coalition partners. Twelve percent of voters aged 18 to 24 backed the SPD, down from 15 percent in the 2021 federal election.

What do young Germans care about?

Reto Mitteregger, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, told Al Jazeera that Die Linke and the AfD, to a “weaker and different extent”, successfully capitalised on the concerns of young Germans during their election campaigns.

According to a 2024 study by Shell Energy, 81 percent of Germans aged between 12 and 25 said they were mostly worried about the war in Ukraine. Poverty was the second biggest fear at 67 percent and environmental pollution at 64 percent.

A separate 2024 trend study that surveyed more than 2,000 young people found that 41 percent of those aged between 14 and 29 were concerned by increased immigration. It also found that the AfD was gaining popularity due to concerns over housing, the economy and poverty.

Why does the AfD appeal to young Germans?

Mitteregger said the AfD attracted young male voters as its anti-immigration agenda is “much more normalised today”.

“Young voters might be less scared off by their agenda than four years ago,” he said.

More young men backed the AfD, however, compared with young women, who were more likely to back the left.

“Even though young men are still more strongly voting for a left-wing party than old men, they also much more strongly favour the AfD than young women: A quarter of men younger than 25 voted for the AfD, whereas only 14 percent of women of the same age did so. It is currently hard to tell why we see those differences, but opposing views on immigration and gender equality … are more strongly dividing the young than the old,” Mitteregger said.

What does Die Linke stand for?

Die Linke, a socialist party, advocates for an “immigration society” where everyone has the same rights and opportunities and no deportations.

“We pursue a concrete goal: We fight for a society in which no child has to grow up poor, in which all men and women can live a self-determined life in peace, dignity and social security and can democratically shape social relations. To achieve this we need a different economic and social system: Democratic socialism,” its manifesto reads.

Vanessa, 22, from Kassel-Hessen, a city in central Germany, told Al Jazeera that she voted for Die Linke because she was “afraid of fascists”, referring to the AfD.

“I’m extremely happy that they have had such success, but I’m not sure what I should think about the future of Germany,” she said.

Mitteregger said Die Linke cultivated a strong presence on social media, including on sites like TikTok. Its new leading co-candidate, Heidi Reichinnek, delivered speeches against CDU party leader Merz that went viral.

Even so, Mitteregger found the leftist surge among young voters “somewhat surprising”.

“The party generally over-performed compared to polls and the party did much better among the young than four years ago,” he said.