---
title: 'PostgreSQL Aggregate Functions'
page_title: 'PostgreSQL Aggregate Functions'
page_description: 'This tutorial shows you how to use the PostgreSQL aggregate functions such as AVG(), COUNT(), MIN(), MAX(), and SUM() to summarize data.'
prev_url: 'https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-aggregate-functions/'
ogImage: 'https://www.postgresqltutorial.com//postgresqltutorial/aggregate-functions.png'
updatedOn: '2024-03-20T01:48:16+00:00'
enableTableOfContents: true
previousLink:
  title: 'PostgreSQL Functions'
  slug: 'postgresql-functions'
nextLink:
  title: 'PostgreSQL AVG Function'
  slug: 'postgresql-aggregate-functions/postgresql-avg-function'
---

**Summary**: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL aggregate functions such as `AVG()`, `COUNT()`, `MIN()`, `MAX()`, and `SUM()`.

## Introduction to PostgreSQL aggregate functions

Aggregate functions perform a calculation on a set of rows and return a single row. PostgreSQL provides all standard SQL’s aggregate functions as follows:

- [`AVG()`](postgresql-aggregate-functions/postgresql-avg-function) – return the average value.
- [`COUNT()`](postgresql-aggregate-functions/postgresql-count-function) – return the number of values.
- [`MAX()`](postgresql-aggregate-functions/postgresql-max-function) – return the maximum value.
- [`MIN()`](postgresql-aggregate-functions/postgresql-min-function) – return the minimum value.
- [`SUM()`](postgresql-aggregate-functions/postgresql-sum-function) – return the sum of all or distinct values.

In practice, you often use the aggregate functions with the [`GROUP BY`](postgresql-tutorial/postgresql-group-by) clause in the [`SELECT`](postgresql-tutorial/postgresql-select) statement:

```csssql
SELECT column1, AGGREGATE_FUNCTION(column2)
FROM table1
GROUP BY column1;
```

In this syntax, the `GROUP BY` clause divides the result set into groups of rows and the aggregate function performs a calculation on each group e.g., maximum, minimum, average, etc.

## PostgreSQL aggregate function examples

Let’s use the `film` table in the [sample database](postgresql-getting-started/postgresql-sample-database) for the demonstration.

![Film table](/postgresqltutorial/film_table.png)

## AVG() function examples

The following statement uses the `AVG()` function to calculate the average replacement cost of all films:

```sql
SELECT
  ROUND(AVG(replacement_cost), 2) avg_replacement_cost
FROM
  film;
```

The following is the result:

```text
 avg_replacement_cost
----------------------
                19.98
(1 row)
```

Noted that we use the [`ROUND()`](postgresql-math-functions/postgresql-round) function to round the result to 2 decimal places.

To calculate the average replacement cost of the `Drama` films whose category id is 7, you use the following statement:

```css
SELECT
  ROUND(
    AVG(replacement_cost),
    2
  ) avg_replacement_cost
FROM
  film
  INNER JOIN film_category USING(film_id)
  INNER JOIN category USING(category_id)
WHERE
  category_id = 7;
```

Here is the result:

```text
 avg_replacement_cost
----------------------
                21.09
(1 row)
```

## COUNT() function examples

To get the number of films, you use the `COUNT(*)` function as follows:

```css
SELECT
  COUNT(*)
FROM
  film;
```

Output:

```text
 count
-------
  1000
(1 row)
```

To get the number of drama films, you use the following statement:

```
SELECT
  COUNT(*) drama_films
FROM
  film
  INNER JOIN film_category USING(film_id)
  INNER JOIN category USING(category_id)
WHERE
  category_id = 7;
```

The result shows that there are 62 drama films:

```text
 drama_films
-------------
          62
(1 row)

```

## MAX() function examples

The following statement returns the maximum replacement cost of films.

```
SELECT
  MAX(replacement_cost)
FROM
  film;
```

Output:

```text
  max
-------
 29.99
(1 row)
```

To get the films that have the maximum replacement cost, you use the following query:

```css
SELECT
  film_id,
  title
FROM
  film
WHERE
  replacement_cost =(
    SELECT
      MAX(replacement_cost)
    FROM
      film
  )
ORDER BY
  title;
```

Output:

```sql
film_id |          title
---------+-------------------------
      34 | Arabia Dogma
      52 | Ballroom Mockingbird
      81 | Blindness Gun
      85 | Bonnie Holocaust
     138 | Chariots Conspiracy
...
```

The subquery returned the maximum replacement cost which then was used by the outer query for retrieving the film’s information.

## MIN() function examples

The following example uses the `MIN()` function to return the minimum replacement cost of films:

```
SELECT
  MIN(replacement_cost)
FROM
  film;
```

Output:

```text
 min
------
 9.99
(1 row)
```

To get the films that have the minimum replacement cost, you use the following query:

```plaintext
SELECT
  film_id,
  title
FROM
  film
WHERE
  replacement_cost =(
    SELECT
      MIN(replacement_cost)
    FROM
      film
  )
ORDER BY
  title;

```

Output:

```text
 film_id |         title
---------+------------------------
      23 | Anaconda Confessions
     150 | Cider Desire
     182 | Control Anthem
     203 | Daisy Menagerie
...
```

## SUM() function examples

The following statement uses the `SUM()` function to calculate the total length of films grouped by film’s rating:

```
SELECT
  rating,
  SUM(rental_duration)
FROM
  film
GROUP BY
  rating
ORDER BY
  rating;
```

The following picture illustrates the result:

```
 rating | sum
--------+------
 G      |  861
 PG     |  986
 PG-13  | 1127
 R      |  931
 NC-17  | 1080
(5 rows)
```

## Summary

- Aggregate functions perform a calculation on a set of rows and return a single row.
- Use aggregate functions to summarize data.
- Use the `AVG()` function to calculate the average value in a set of values.
- Use the `COUNT()` function to perform a count.
- Use the `SUM()` function to calculate the total of values.
- Use the `MIN()` function to get the minimum value in a set of values.
- Use the `MAX()` function to get the maximum value in a set of values.