German Chancellor Angela Merkel will stand for a fourth term in next year's general election, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party sources have reportedly said.

The 62-year-old became Germany’s head of government in 2005. If she wins in 2017 and serves the entire four-year term, she would match her former mentor Helmut Kohl’s post-war record of 16 years in office.

Ms Merkel refused to comment on the her decision to run for re-election during a a press conference with US President Barack Obama last week, however she is expected to confirm she will run at a news conference in Berlin on Sunday night.

Citing sources at Ms Merkel’s CDU headquarters in Berlin, German news agency DPA reported on Sunday that the nation’s first female Chancellor would seek re-election.

CDU politician Norbert Rottgen told CNN on Tuesday that he believed Ms Merkel would run for another term and German Member of the European Parliament Elmar Brok, told newspaper Rhein Neckar Zeitung on Saturday, “everybody knows that Merkel will run for office again”.

With no clear successor in the CDU the decision is set to come as a relief to the party.

The Chancellor has made small gains recently after her support took a hit this year in opposition to her open-door immigration policy in response to Europe’s refugee crisis.

Her decision to offer asylum to more than 1 million people dented her popularity and caused a swell in support for the right wing, populist Alternative for Germany party (AFD).

The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Show all 11 1 /11 The iron Frau: Angela Merkel The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Comeback queen: Angela Merkel at the Bellevue Palace, Berlin in 2007 EPA / WOLFGANG KUMM The iron Frau: Angela Merkel At home in Germany, the press are comparing Merkel to Margaret Thatcher (pictured in 1981), for her tough-talking stance on the Greek debt crisis GETTY IMAGES / REUTERS The iron Frau: Angela Merkel What Cold War? With Vladimir Putin and George W Bush in 2007 at a G8 summit in Germany. She's known to be an entertaining mimic; was she doing her 'Gordon Brown' for them? AFP The iron Frau: Angela Merkel The famous clip that showed George W Bush squeezing her shoulder The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Whispering with Silvio Berlusconi REUTERS The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Make 'em laugh: with Nicolas Sarkozy AFP The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Crowd-pleaser: Merkel's supporters at a 2009 election rally AFP / GETTY IMAGES The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Immortalised in doll form The iron Frau: Angela Merkel With other world leaders at last year's G20 summit AP The iron Frau: Angela Merkel With her husband Joachim Sauer EPA The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Campaigning in 1990 REUTERS

However, after Britain’s Brexit vote, Donald Trump’s shock US presidential election victory and the rise of right-wing populist movements in many European countries, many are looking to Ms Merkel as a beacon of stability in uncertain times.

CDU deputy leader Julia Kloeckner told Welt am Sonntag newspaper that Ms Merkel represents “stability and reliability in turbulent times because she holds society together and stands up to over-simplification” by populists.

Weekly German newspaper Die Zeit said: “Society’s need for predictability and stability could become so overpowering in the 2017 election year that even the creeping erosion of Merkel's chancellorship won’t compromise her success at the polls in the end.”

A recent poll for German newspaper Bild am Sonntag found 55 per cent of Germans supported Ms Merkel running for a fourth term.

Ms Merkel is the first leader of a reunited Germany to have grown up under communism in the former East Germany.