Leader of the Christian Democratic Union Chancellor Angela Merkel (3nd, Right) celebrates afer first exit polls in the German general election at the CDU party headquartersin Berlin September 22, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

BERLIN - Official results confirm that Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have won Germany's election but indicate that they have finished short of an absolute majority. Her center-right coalition partners crashed out of Parliament.

Merkel's conservative Union bloc won 41.5 percent of Sunday's vote. Its coalition partners, the pro-business Free Democrats, slumped to 4.8 percent, not enough to win seats.

Challenger Peer Steinbrueck's Social Democrats won 25.7 percent, their Green allies 8.4 percent and the hard-line Left Party 8.6 percent.

Election officials didn't immediately provide a seat tally but Merkel's conservatives are 1.2 percentage points behind the other parties combined. The likeliest outcome is a Merkel-led coalition with the Social Democrats.