SQL SUM Function

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the SQL SUM function to calculate the sum of  all values or distinct values.

Introduction to SQL SUM function

The SUM function returns the sum of numbers. The syntax of the SUM() function is as follows:

SUM( DISTINCT | ALL numeric_expression)

Unlike other SQL aggregate functions, the  SUM() function accepts only the expression that evaluates to numerical values.

You can specify either ALL or DISTINCT modifier in the  SUM() function.

• The DISTINCT modifier instructs the SUM() function to calculate the total of distinct values, which means the duplicates are eliminated.
• The ALL modifier allows the  SUM() function to return the sum of all values including duplicates. The  SUM() function uses the ALL modifier by default if you do not specify any modifier explicitly.

SQL SUM function examples

We will use the products table for our examples in the following sections.

Simple SQL SUM function example

To get the sum of units in stock and the sum of units on order, you use the  SUM() function as follows:

SELECT 
    SUM(unitsinstock), SUM(unitsonOrder)
FROM
    products;

SQL SUM with GROUP By clause example

To get the sum of units in stock by supplier, you use the  SUM() function in conjunction with a GROUP BY clause as the following query:

SELECT 
    supplierid, SUM(unitsinstock)
FROM
    products
GROUP BY supplierid;

The  GROUP BY clause groups the products by suppliers. For each group, the SUM() function calculate the sum of units in stock.

SQL SUM function with HAVING clause example

To get the sum of units in stock by supplier where the total units in stock is less than 50, you need to use the  SUM() function with  GROUP BY and HAVING clauses as shown below:

SELECT 
    supplierid, SUM(unitsinstock)
FROM
    products
GROUP BY supplierid
HAVING SUM(unitsinstock) < 50;

If you use a column alias for the expression that contains the  SUM() function, you can refer to the alias in the HAVING clause instead of the expression. This helps you save time typing the same expression twice. In addition, when you change the expression, you have to change it in only one place.

The following query produces the same result as the query above.

SELECT 
    supplierid, SUM(unitsinstock) totalinstock
FROM
    products
GROUP BY supplierid
HAVING totalinstock < 50;

Advanced SQL SUM function examples

You can use the SUM function to answer more challenging business questions such as get top 5 customers by sales as the following query:

SELECT 
    customers.customerid,
    companyname,
    (SUM(unitprice * quantity) - SUM(unitprice * quantity) * discount) AS total
FROM
    orderdetails
INNER JOIN
    orders ON orders.orderid = orderdetails.orderid
INNER JOIN
    customers ON customers.customerid = orders.customerid
GROUP BY customers.customerid
ORDER BY total DESC
LIMIT 5Code language: PHP (php)

We use the LIMIT clause to get only 5 rows from the result set. Both MySQL and PostgreSQL support the LIMIT clause. In Microsoft SQL Server, you can use the  SELECT TOP as shown in the following query to achieve the same result:

SELECT TOP 5
    customers.customerid,
    companyname,
    (SUM(unitprice * quantity) - SUM(unitprice * quantity) * discount) AS total
FROM
    orderdetails
INNER JOIN
    orders ON orders.orderid = orderdetails.orderid
INNER JOIN
    customers ON customers.customerid = orders.customerid
GROUP BY customers.customerid
ORDER BY total DESC;Code language: PHP (php)

The following query uses the  SUM() function to get the 5 best selling products:

SELECT 
    p.productid,
    p.productname,
    (SUM(o.unitprice * quantity) - SUM(o.unitprice * quantity) * discount) total
FROM
    orderdetails o
INNER JOIN
    products p ON p.productid = o.productid
GROUP BY p.productid
ORDER BY total DESC
LIMIT 5;

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to use the SQL SUM function to calculate the sum of values.