Press

Press release no. 28/17 of 22. September 2017

2017 Bundestag Election: new numbers of seats of the Länder

WIESBADEN – Based on the numbers of inhabitants as at 30 June 2016, which are now available, the numbers of seats of the Länder have slightly changed compared with the press release no. 26/17. The Federal Returning Officer also reports that the number of inhabitants in Brandenburg has slightly increased, whereas it has decreased in Sachsen-Anhalt. The number of seats of Brandenburg has thus increased by one to 20, while that of Sachsen-Anhalt has decreased by one to 17.

Converting votes into seats is done in two distribution stages comprising two calculation steps each. In the first calculation step of the first distribution stage, a specific number of seats is allocated to each Land on the basis of its share in the total population (Section 6 (2), first sentence, of the Federal Elections Act). In accordance with Section 6 (2), first sentence, of the Federal Elections Act, in conjunction with Section 3 (1) of the Federal Elections Act, this must be limited to the German population. Also, the most recent official population figures must be used (Section 78 (1), second sentence, no. 7 of the Federal Electoral Regulations).

Below you will find a table on how the numbers of seats of the Länder are determined on the basis of each Land's share in the total population.

Land German population as at 30 June 2016 Divisor Seats
unrounded rounded
Schleswig-Holstein 2,673,803

: 122,650 =

21.800269 22
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 1,548,400 12.624541 13
Hamburg 1,525,090 12.434488 12
Niedersachsen 7,278,789 59.346017 59
Bremen 568,510 4.635222 5
Brandenburg 2,391,746 19.500579 20
Sachsen-Anhalt 2,145,671 17.494260 17
Berlin 2,975,745 24.262087 24
Nordrhein-Westfalen 15,707,569 128.068235 128
Sachsen 3,914,671 31.917415 32
Hessen 5,281,198 43.059095 43
Thüringen 2,077,901 16.941712 17
Rheinland-Pfalz 3,661,245 29.851162 30
Bayern 11,362,245 92.639584 93
Baden-Württemberg 9,365,001 76.355491 76
Saarland 899,748 7.335899 7
Total 73,377,332     598

 

For further information:
Office of the Federal Returning Officer
tel: +49 611 75-4863
www.bundeswahlleiter.de/contact