electionstracker

Germany 1972 federal election

What was the result of the 1972 federal election in Germany?

Social Democratic Party of Germany won 230 of 496 seats with 45.8% of the vote. 91.1% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Germany
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Social Democratic Party of Germany won 230 of 496 seats with 45.8% of the vote; 91.1% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 4.4 points on 1969.

  • Social Democratic Party of Germany 230 +6 seats 45.8% +3.1 points
  • Christian Democratic Union of Germany 177 −16 seats 35.2% −1.4 points
  • Christian Social Union in Bavaria 48 −1 seat 9.7% +0.2 points
  • Free Democratic Party 41 +11 seats 8.4% +2.6 points
  • National Democratic Party 0 0 seats 0.6% −3.7 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Germany 1969 federal election, party by party.

249 of 496 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 45.8%

    Share of the vote won by Social Democratic Party of Germany

    Social Democratic Party of Germany won 230 of 496 seats. A majority needs 249.

  2. +11 seats

    Seats gained by Free Democratic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1969. CDU/CSU lost 17 seats.

  3. 91.1%

    Voter turnout

    Up 4.4 points on 1969.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Social Democratic Party of Germany230+645.8+3.117,175,169
Christian Democratic Union of Germany177−1635.2−1.413,190,837
Christian Social Union in Bavaria48−19.7+0.23,615,183
Free Democratic Party41+118.4+2.63,129,982
National Democratic Party000.6−3.7207,465

± is the change against the Germany 1969 federal election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Social Democratic Party of Germany 17,175,169
  • Christian Democratic Union of Germany 13,190,837
  • Christian Social Union in Bavaria 3,615,183
  • Free Democratic Party 3,129,982
  • National Democratic Party 207,465

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

91.1% of the 41,446,302 registered voters cast a ballot (37,761,589 ballots), up 4.4 points on 1969. 37,459,750 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1949.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Social Democratic Party of Germany45.8% of votes46.4% of seats
  • CDU/CSU44.9% of votes45.4% of seats
  • Free Democratic Party8.4% of votes8.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 0.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.4 by votes and 2.3 by seats; Social Democratic Party of Germany led CDU/CSU by 0.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of