COUNT()

This function returns the number of items found in a group. `COUNT` operates like the COUNT_BIG function. These functions differ only in the data types of their return values. `COUNT` always returns an int data type value. `COUNT_BIG` always returns a bigint data type value.

Signature

COUNT ( { [ [ ALL | DISTINCT ] expression ] | * } )

Parameters

  • expression — An expression of any type, except image, ntext, or text. `COUNT` doesn't support aggregate functions or subqueries in an expression.

Examples

SELECT COUNT(*) AS orders, COUNT(DISTINCT product) AS products FROM dbo.orders;
orders      products
----------- -----------
          6           4

Run against SQL Server 16.0.4265.3 on 2026-09-13. This is the output we got, not the documentation’s.

Available on

  • SQL Server 2017 and later
  • Azure SQL Database
  • Azure SQL Managed Instance
  • Azure Synapse Analytics
  • Analytics Platform System (PDW)
  • Microsoft Fabric warehouse
  • Fabric SQL database

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Signature and description adapted from the Microsoft SQL documentation, used under the CC BY 4.0. SQL Server and Azure are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. This page is not affiliated with Microsoft.