Berlin  - Chances of a centre-right coalition taking power in Germany after elections in September have improved, according an opinion poll released on Wednesday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) saw their popularity up 1 per cent from a week ago to 36 per cent, the research group Forsa said in a survey conducted for Stern magazine and RTL television.

The business-oriented Free Democrats, Merkel's preferred coalition partner after the September 27 vote, was on 15 per cent, giving the two parties an absolute majority, the poll showed.

The left-of-centre Social Democrats (SPD) were languishing on 22 per cent, 14 per cent behind the CDU, with whom they have been governing in an uneasy grand coalition since late 2005.

The SPD's preferred partner, the environmentalist Greens, slipped back 1 per cent to 12 per cent, while the radical Left party was on 10 per cent.

Both the CDU and the SPD have been shopping around for allies to form a new coalition after the autumn vote. The SPD would need a three-party alliance to unseat Merkel, but has ruled out joining forces with the Left.(dpa)