German opposition leader Friedrich Merz's conservatives were on course for a lacklustre victory in a national election Sunday, while Alternative for Germany nearly doubled its support, the strongest showing for a far-right party since the Second World War, projections showed.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his centre-left Social Democrats after what he called "a bitter election result." Projections for broadcasters ARD and ZDF showed his party finishing in third place, in its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.

It wasn't immediately clear how easy it will be for Merz to put together a coalition government.

The election took place seven months earlier than originally planned after Scholz's unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates.

The projections, based on exit polls and partial counting, put support for Merz's Union bloc at just under 29 per cent and Alternative for Germany, or AfD, at about 20 per cent — roughly double its result from 2021.

They put support for Scholz's Social Democrats at just over 16 per cent, far lower than in the last election. The environmentalist Greens, their remaining partners in the outgoing government, were on about 12 to 13 per cent.

Out of three smaller parties, one — the hard-left Left Party — appeared certain to win seats in parliament with up to nine per cent of the vote. Two other parties, the pro-business Free Democrats and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, hovered around the threshold of the five per cent support needed to win seats.

Whether Merz will need one or two partners to form a coalition will depend on how many parties get into parliament.

"I am aware of the responsibility," Merz said. "I am also aware of the scale of the task that now lies ahead of us. I approach it with the utmost respect, and I know that it will not be easy."

"The world out there isn't waiting for us, and it isn't waiting for long-drawn-out coalition talks and negotiations," he told cheering supporters. "We must now become capable of acting quickly again."

AfD's candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, said that "we have become the second-strongest force."

She said that her party is "open for coalition negotiations" with Merz's party, and that "otherwise, no change of policy is possible in Germany." But Merz has repeatedly and categorically ruled out working with AfD, as have other mainstream parties.

WATCH | Germany's AfD party, explained: 

Germany’s AfD party, explained

Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on course to become the second-largest player in the country’s parliament after Sunday’s election. CBC’s Margaret Evans breaks down where the far-right political party came from and why Elon Musk is getting involved.

The Social Democrats' general secretary, Matthias Miersch, suggested that the defeat was no surprise after three years of the unpopular government. "This election wasn't lost in the last eight weeks," he said.

The election was dominated by worries about the years-long stagnation of Europe's biggest economy and with pressure to curb migration. It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe's alliance with the United States.

Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of NATO. It has been Ukraine's second-biggest weapons supplier, after the U.S. It will be central to shaping the continent's response to the challenges of the coming years, including the Trump administration's confrontational foreign and trade policy.

More than 59 million people in the nation of 84 million were eligible to elect the 100% members of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, who will take their seats under the glass dome of Berlin's landmark Reichstag building.