Angela Merkel has said she is looking forward to enjoying some leisure time after 16 years as Germany's chancellor, Sky News reports.
Ms Merkel has led her country through a number of crises, including the global financial collapse, and the coronavirus pandemic.
But she announced in 2018 that she would not run in the elections that took place last month, although she remains in a caretaker role while the Social Democrats, Greens, and Free Democrats work to form a coalition.
The 67-year-old politician told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper: "I can say with a good feeling now that it is right for someone else to take over."
While she has found the job fulfilling, she said it had been challenging due to the constant need to pay attention to, prevent, or react to crises.
She said that after she leaves politics, she wants to "perhaps travel a bit or read, or simply enjoy some leisure time knowing that no possible upheaval may happen in the next 20 minutes".
This weekend she has been at the G20 summit in Rome, meeting other world leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron.
