SUM

Returns the sum of numeric values, or only the distinct values.

Syntax

-- As an aggregate
SUM( [ DISTINCT ] expr )

-- As a window function
SUM ( expr ) OVER (
         [ PARTITION BY value_expression [, ...] ]
         [ ORDER BY value_expression [ ASC | DESC ] [ NULLS { FIRST | LAST } ] [, ...] ]
         [ frame_clause ]
      )

Arguments

Parameter	Description
expr	Numeric expression
DISTINCT	Specifies that the operation should operate only on unique values

Returns

Return type is dependent on the argument.

• For TINYINT, SMALLINT and INT, the return type is INT

• For BIGINT, the return type is BIGINT

• For REAL, the return type is DOUBLE

• For DOUBLE, rhe return type is DOUBLE

Notes

• NULL values are ignored

• Because SUM returns the same data type, it can very quickly overflow on large data sets. If the SUM is over 2³¹ for example, up-cast to a larger type like BIGINT: SUM(expr :: BIGINT)

Examples

For these examples, assume a table named nba, with the following structure:

CREATE TABLE nba
(
   "Name" text(40),
   "Team" text(40),
   "Number" tinyint,
   "Position" text(2),
   "Age" tinyint,
   "Height" text(4),
   "Weight" real,
   "College" text(40),
   "Salary" float
 );

Here’s a peek at the table contents (Download nba.csv):

nba.csv

Name	Team	Number	Position	Age	Height	Weight	College	Salary
Avery Bradley	Boston Celtics	0.0	PG	25.0	6-2	180.0	Texas	7730337.0
Jae Crowder	Boston Celtics	99.0	SF	25.0	6-6	235.0	Marquette	6796117.0
John Holland	Boston Celtics	30.0	SG	27.0	6-5	205.0	Boston University
R.J. Hunter	Boston Celtics	28.0	SG	22.0	6-5	185.0	Georgia State	1148640.0
Jonas Jerebko	Boston Celtics	8.0	PF	29.0	6-10	231.0		5000000.0
Amir Johnson	Boston Celtics	90.0	PF	29.0	6-9	240.0		12000000.0
Jordan Mickey	Boston Celtics	55.0	PF	21.0	6-8	235.0	LSU	1170960.0
Kelly Olynyk	Boston Celtics	41.0	C	25.0	7-0	238.0	Gonzaga	2165160.0
Terry Rozier	Boston Celtics	12.0	PG	22.0	6-2	190.0	Louisville	1824360.0

Simple sum

t=> SELECT SUM("Age") FROM nba;
sum
-----
12311

Sum only distinct values

t=> SELECT SUM(DISTINCT "Age") FROM nba;
sum
---
649

Combine sum with GROUP BY

t=> SELECT "Age", SUM("Salary") FROM nba GROUP BY 1;
Age | sum
----+----------
 19 |   3860880
 20 |  51790026
 21 |  39280213
 22 |  61307050
 23 |  79355103
 24 | 170338514
 25 | 172958166
 26 | 247196385
 27 | 267069647
 28 | 153305658
 29 | 168052779
 30 | 211855757
 31 | 187250724
 32 | 100320456
 33 |  55030346
 34 |  76060300
 35 |  27693918
 36 |  22381196
 37 |  38333334
 38 |   7360164
 39 |   5035745
 40 |  14000750