60-40 NATION:

Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor in 2005 and has frequently been described as the most powerful woman in the world. So it's perhaps no surprise that her party received higher-than-usual support from women. 

In fact, during the Merkel years, a shift in support for the CDU was most striking among women.

In recent federal elections, the CDU has had the widest advantage with women of any political party. The last time Germany held a federal election, in 2017, the party won 29.8 percent of votes cast by women and 23.5 percent of those cast by men, a gender gap of 6.3 percentage points.

Merkel also helped the party do well among older voters generally, but especially among older women. Older female voters provided the strongest base of support for the CDU. Among women aged 70 and older at the 2017 election, 40 percent voted for the CDU, compared to the party's overall result of 27 percent. Among the other parties that tend to do well among older voters is the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Figures from the Federal Returning Officer, the national election authority, confirm that German elections are won or lost with older voters.

The majority of Germany's electorate is over 50, and almost 23 million voters -- or 38 percent of the electorate -- are over 60. Looking at the breakdown by gender of those over 60, women make up a clear majority.

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