In 2024, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party’s memberhip grew by 33.1%, making it the fastest-growing party in Rhineland-Palatinate in relative terms. While the AfD led in growth, the Greens followed with a 25.3% increase, while post-Communist Die Linke saw an 18.2% rise. The Free Voters, represented in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament, reported a 19.2% increase. The data comes from a study shared with regional public broadcasting company SWR, surveying all parties represented in the German Bundestag.
On the other hand, several traditional parties appear to be in decline. The liberal FDP lost the most members, down 5.8%, followed by the SPD (-3%) and the CDU (-0.4%). Since the radical-left party Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance was only founded in 2024, no comparative membership data is available about it.
Nationwide, the AfD is the only party to have gained members in all federal states, with a 29.6% increase from 2023. The Greens (+23.3%), Die Linke (+16.5%), and, for the first time since 1999, the CDU (+0.3%) also grew. Conversely, the FDP and SPD declined by 6.1% and 2.2%, respectively.
Despite recent surges in specific parties, political scientist Oskar Niedermayer, who authored the study, notes that long-term party membership in Germany is in steep decline—dropping from nearly 4% of the population in 1980 to just 1.6% by 2023—and says he sees little chance of this trend reversing.
