German voters are choosing the next leaders of Europe’s biggest economy on Sunday with polls suggesting a likely victory for the opposition conservatives under Friedrich Merz and a bitter loss for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democrats.

Germans were voting in a national election on Sunday that is expected to restore power to Friedrich Merz's conservatives while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is forecast to achieve its best result yet in Europe's ailing economic powerhouse.

Germans go to the polls on Sunday, after an intense election campaign dominated by their country's faltering economy and a succession of deadly attacks that have made migration and security a focal issue.