Today, the newly elected Bundestag will convene in Germany, with a notable reduction in the number of deputies — down by 103. However, Friedrich Merz may work towards addressing this decline.
The German Bundestag is no longer the largest democratically elected parliament in the world, a title now held by the European Parliament with 720 members. The British House of Commons follows with 650 seats. At the opposite end, the Pitcairn Islands, located in the southern Pacific Ocean, has the smallest democratically elected parliament, comprising just 10 representatives. This is due to the islands’ tiny population of only 50 people.
In Germany, each Bundestag member now represents approximately 134,000 citizens, a significantly smaller ratio compared to countries like India and the United States. In India, each representative serves an average of 2.6 million people, while in the U.S., the number stands at 733,000 citizens per representative.
Since its first elections in 1949, the number of Bundestag seats has changed several times, due to factors like the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990 and various reforms. In 2021, the Bundestag saw an expansion to 736 members due to additional Überhangmandate (overhang mandates) and Ausgleichsmandate (compensatory mandates). However, the outgoing term has since capped the number of seats at 630.
A reform is already being discussed to address issues within the current system. In 23 electoral districts, candidates who were directly elected did not receive a mandate. This occurs when the number of directly elected candidates exceeds the number of seats a party is entitled to under the national proportional representation system.
The likely future chancellor, Friedrich Merz, expressed dissatisfaction with the current setup, stating that the “orphaned” districts predominantly affect the CDU. As a result, it is highly possible that the law will be modified before the 22nd Bundestag convenes.
