Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has said she will seek a fourth term in the 2017 general election, as the country struggles with a surge in far-right extremism, domestic terror attacks and an influx of more than one million migrants.

Speculation as to whether Mrs Merkel would seek re-election was put to rest on Sunday morning after she told her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party that she wished to lead them into the polls.

The 62-year-old, who is widely regarded as the most powerful woman in the world, had presided over Europe's strongest economy since 2005.

A recent poll found that 59% of Germans are in favour of her being re-elected.

Should she go on to serve a fourth term, Mrs Merkel would match the post-war record of her mentor Helmut Kohl, who presided over the country during the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Supporters say she would offer some much-needed stability to European politics, which has already been rocked by the UK's decision to leave the European Union and Donald Trump's shock election victory in the United States.