London, Feb 2 (IANS): Giving another clue Angela Merkel is in the final phase of her political career, the German Chancellor has announced she is closing down her Facebook page which has more than 2.5 million followers.

Merkel, who handed the leadership of Germany's centre-right Christian Democratic Union to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in December, announced the move to give up her Facebook page in a short video on her official page on Friday, The Guardian reported.

"Today is the day I want to thank you for the strong support of my Facebook page," Merkel said in the video.

"You know I'm no longer the head of the CDU, and that's why I will close down my Facebook page."

Merkel has used the Facebook page to inform her followers about her whereabouts and the latest issues she is focusing on, besides providing details on her favourites -- books, films, others.

Merkel will, however, continue to be active on Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram. People will also be able to follow her work on the official German government's Facebook page.

Unlike many politicians, Merkel has so far avoided using Twitter.