Aggregate functions compute a single result from a set of input values. The built-in general-purpose aggregate functions are listed in Table 9.55 while statistical aggregates are in Table 9.56. The built-in within-group ordered-set aggregate functions are listed in Table 9.57 while the built-in within-group hypothetical-set ones are in Table 9.58. Grouping operations, which are closely related to aggregate functions, are listed in Table 9.59. The special syntax considerations for aggregate functions are explained in Section 4.2.7. Consult Section 2.7 for additional introductory information.
Aggregate functions that support Partial Mode are eligible to participate in various optimizations, such as parallel aggregation.
It should be noted that except for count
, these functions return a null value when no rows are selected. In particular, sum
of no rows returns null, not zero as one might expect, and array_agg
returns null rather than an empty array when there are no input rows. The coalesce
function can be used to substitute zero or an empty array for null when necessary.
The aggregate functions array_agg
, json_agg
, jsonb_agg
, json_object_agg
, jsonb_object_agg
, string_agg
, and xmlagg
, as well as similar user-defined aggregate functions, produce meaningfully different result values depending on the order of the input values. This ordering is unspecified by default, but can be controlled by writing an ORDER BY
clause within the aggregate call, as shown in Section 4.2.7. Alternatively, supplying the input values from a sorted subquery will usually work. For example:
Beware that this approach can fail if the outer query level contains additional processing, such as a join, because that might cause the subquery's output to be reordered before the aggregate is computed.
The boolean aggregates bool_and
and bool_or
correspond to the standard SQL aggregates every
and any
or some
. PostgreSQL supports every
, but not any
or some
, because there is an ambiguity built into the standard syntax:
Here ANY
can be considered either as introducing a subquery, or as being an aggregate function, if the subquery returns one row with a Boolean value. Thus the standard name cannot be given to these aggregates.
Users accustomed to working with other SQL database management systems might be disappointed by the performance of the count
aggregate when it is applied to the entire table. A query like:
will require effort proportional to the size of the table: PostgreSQL will need to scan either the entire table or the entirety of an index that includes all rows in the table.
Table 9.56 shows aggregate functions typically used in statistical analysis. (These are separated out merely to avoid cluttering the listing of more-commonly-used aggregates.) Functions shown as accepting numeric_type
are available for all the types smallint
, integer
, bigint
, numeric
, real
, and double precision
. Where the description mentions N
, it means the number of input rows for which all the input expressions are non-null. In all cases, null is returned if the computation is meaningless, for example when N
is zero.
Table 9.57 shows some aggregate functions that use the ordered-set aggregate syntax. These functions are sometimes referred to as “inverse distribution” functions. Their aggregated input is introduced by ORDER BY
, and they may also take a direct argument that is not aggregated, but is computed only once. All these functions ignore null values in their aggregated input. For those that take a fraction
parameter, the fraction value must be between 0 and 1; an error is thrown if not. However, a null fraction
value simply produces a null result.
Each of the “hypothetical-set” aggregates listed in Table 9.58 is associated with a window function of the same name defined in Section 9.22. In each case, the aggregate's result is the value that the associated window function would have returned for the “hypothetical” row constructed from args
, if such a row had been added to the sorted group of rows represented by the sorted_args
. For each of these functions, the list of direct arguments given in args
must match the number and types of the aggregated arguments given in sorted_args
. Unlike most built-in aggregates, these aggregates are not strict, that is they do not drop input rows containing nulls. Null values sort according to the rule specified in the ORDER BY
clause.
The grouping operations shown in Table 9.59 are used in conjunction with grouping sets (see Section 7.2.4) to distinguish result rows. The arguments to the GROUPING
function are not actually evaluated, but they must exactly match expressions given in the GROUP BY
clause of the associated query level. For example:
Here, the grouping
value 0
in the first four rows shows that those have been grouped normally, over both the grouping columns. The value 1
indicates that model
was not grouped by in the next-to-last two rows, and the value 3
indicates that neither make
nor model
was grouped by in the last row (which therefore is an aggregate over all the input rows).
Function
Description
Partial Mode
array_agg
( anynonarray
) → anyarray
Collects all the input values, including nulls, into an array.
No
array_agg
( anyarray
) → anyarray
Concatenates all the input arrays into an array of one higher dimension. (The inputs must all have the same dimensionality, and cannot be empty or null.)
No
avg
( smallint
) → numeric
avg
( integer
) → numeric
avg
( bigint
) → numeric
avg
( numeric
) → numeric
avg
( real
) → double precision
avg
( double precision
) → double precision
avg
( interval
) → interval
Computes the average (arithmetic mean) of all the non-null input values.
Yes
bit_and
( smallint
) → smallint
bit_and
( integer
) → integer
bit_and
( bigint
) → bigint
bit_and
( bit
) → bit
Computes the bitwise AND of all non-null input values.
Yes
bit_or
( smallint
) → smallint
bit_or
( integer
) → integer
bit_or
( bigint
) → bigint
bit_or
( bit
) → bit
Computes the bitwise OR of all non-null input values.
Yes
bool_and
( boolean
) → boolean
Returns true if all non-null input values are true, otherwise false.
Yes
bool_or
( boolean
) → boolean
Returns true if any non-null input value is true, otherwise false.
Yes
count
( *
) → bigint
Computes the number of input rows.
Yes
count
( "any"
) → bigint
Computes the number of input rows in which the input value is not null.
Yes
every
( boolean
) → boolean
This is the SQL standard's equivalent to bool_and
.
Yes
json_agg
( anyelement
) → json
jsonb_agg
( anyelement
) → jsonb
Collects all the input values, including nulls, into a JSON array. Values are converted to JSON as per to_json
or to_jsonb
.
No
json_object_agg
( key
"any"
, value
"any"
) → json
jsonb_object_agg
( key
"any"
, value
"any"
) → jsonb
Collects all the key/value pairs into a JSON object. Key arguments are coerced to text; value arguments are converted as per to_json
or to_jsonb
. Values can be null, but not keys.
No
max
( see text
) → same as input type
Computes the maximum of the non-null input values. Available for any numeric, string, date/time, or enum type, as well as inet
, interval
, money
, oid
, pg_lsn
, tid
, and arrays of any of these types.
Yes
min
( see text
) → same as input type
Computes the minimum of the non-null input values. Available for any numeric, string, date/time, or enum type, as well as inet
, interval
, money
, oid
, pg_lsn
, tid
, and arrays of any of these types.
Yes
string_agg
( value
text
, delimiter
text
) → text
string_agg
( value
bytea
, delimiter
bytea
) → bytea
Concatenates the non-null input values into a string. Each value after the first is preceded by the corresponding delimiter
(if it's not null).
No
sum
( smallint
) → bigint
sum
( integer
) → bigint
sum
( bigint
) → numeric
sum
( numeric
) → numeric
sum
( real
) → real
sum
( double precision
) → double precision
sum
( interval
) → interval
sum
( money
) → money
Computes the sum of the non-null input values.
Yes
xmlagg
( xml
) → xml
Concatenates the non-null XML input values (see Section 9.15.1.7).
No
Function
Description
Partial Mode
corr
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the correlation coefficient.
Yes
covar_pop
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the population covariance.
Yes
covar_samp
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the sample covariance.
Yes
regr_avgx
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the average of the independent variable, sum(
X
)/N
.
Yes
regr_avgy
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the average of the dependent variable, sum(
Y
)/N
.
Yes
regr_count
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → bigint
Computes the number of rows in which both inputs are non-null.
Yes
regr_intercept
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the y-intercept of the least-squares-fit linear equation determined by the (X
, Y
) pairs.
Yes
regr_r2
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the square of the correlation coefficient.
Yes
regr_slope
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the slope of the least-squares-fit linear equation determined by the (X
, Y
) pairs.
Yes
regr_sxx
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the “sum of squares” of the independent variable, sum(
X
^2) - sum(X
)^2/N
.
Yes
regr_sxy
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the “sum of products” of independent times dependent variables, sum(
X
*Y
) - sum(X
) * sum(Y
)/N
.
Yes
regr_syy
( Y
double precision
, X
double precision
) → double precision
Computes the “sum of squares” of the dependent variable, sum(
Y
^2) - sum(Y
)^2/N
.
Yes
stddev
( numeric_type
) → double precision
for real
or double precision
, otherwise numeric
This is a historical alias for stddev_samp
.
Yes
stddev_pop
( numeric_type
) → double precision
for real
or double precision
, otherwise numeric
Computes the population standard deviation of the input values.
Yes
stddev_samp
( numeric_type
) → double precision
for real
or double precision
, otherwise numeric
Computes the sample standard deviation of the input values.
Yes
variance
( numeric_type
) → double precision
for real
or double precision
, otherwise numeric
This is a historical alias for var_samp
.
Yes
var_pop
( numeric_type
) → double precision
for real
or double precision
, otherwise numeric
Computes the population variance of the input values (square of the population standard deviation).
Yes
var_samp
( numeric_type
) → double precision
for real
or double precision
, otherwise numeric
Computes the sample variance of the input values (square of the sample standard deviation).
Yes
Function
Description
Partial Mode
mode
() WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
anyelement
) → anyelement
Computes the mode, the most frequent value of the aggregated argument (arbitrarily choosing the first one if there are multiple equally-frequent values). The aggregated argument must be of a sortable type.
No
percentile_cont
( fraction
double precision
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
double precision
) → double precision
percentile_cont
( fraction
double precision
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
interval
) → interval
Computes the continuous percentile, a value corresponding to the specified fraction
within the ordered set of aggregated argument values. This will interpolate between adjacent input items if needed.
No
percentile_cont
( fractions
double precision[]
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
double precision
) → double precision[]
percentile_cont
( fractions
double precision[]
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
interval
) → interval[]
Computes multiple continuous percentiles. The result is an array of the same dimensions as the fractions
parameter, with each non-null element replaced by the (possibly interpolated) value corresponding to that percentile.
No
percentile_disc
( fraction
double precision
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
anyelement
) → anyelement
Computes the discrete percentile, the first value within the ordered set of aggregated argument values whose position in the ordering equals or exceeds the specified fraction
. The aggregated argument must be of a sortable type.
No
percentile_disc
( fractions
double precision[]
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
anyelement
) → anyarray
Computes multiple discrete percentiles. The result is an array of the same dimensions as the fractions
parameter, with each non-null element replaced by the input value corresponding to that percentile. The aggregated argument must be of a sortable type.
No
Function
Description
Partial Mode
rank
( args
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
sorted_args
) → bigint
Computes the rank of the hypothetical row, with gaps; that is, the row number of the first row in its peer group.
No
dense_rank
( args
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
sorted_args
) → bigint
Computes the rank of the hypothetical row, without gaps; this function effectively counts peer groups.
No
percent_rank
( args
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
sorted_args
) → double precision
Computes the relative rank of the hypothetical row, that is (rank
- 1) / (total rows - 1). The value thus ranges from 0 to 1 inclusive.
No
cume_dist
( args
) WITHIN GROUP
( ORDER BY
sorted_args
) → double precision
Computes the cumulative distribution, that is (number of rows preceding or peers with hypothetical row) / (total rows). The value thus ranges from 1/N
to 1.
No
Function
Description
GROUPING
( group_by_expression(s)
) → integer
Returns a bit mask indicating which GROUP BY
expressions are not included in the current grouping set. Bits are assigned with the rightmost argument corresponding to the least-significant bit; each bit is 0 if the corresponding expression is included in the grouping criteria of the grouping set generating the current result row, and 1 if it is not included.