SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement
The SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement
The SELECT DISTINCT statement is used to return only distinct (different) values.
Inside a table, a column often contains many duplicate values; and sometimes you only want to list the different (distinct) values.
The SELECT DISTINCT statement is used to return only distinct (different) values.
SELECT DISTINCT Syntax
SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name;Demo Database
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:
| CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Alfreds Futterkiste | Maria Anders | Obere Str. 57 | Berlin | 12209 | Germany |
| 2 | Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | Ana Trujillo | Avda. de la Constitución 2222 | México D.F. | 05021 | Mexico |
| 3 | Antonio Moreno Taquería | Antonio Moreno | Mataderos 2312 | México D.F. | 05023 | Mexico |
| 4 |
Around the Horn | Thomas Hardy | 120 Hanover Sq. | London | WA1 1DP | UK |
| 5 | Berglunds snabbköp | Christina Berglund | Berguvsvägen 8 | Luleå | S-958 22 | Sweden |
SELECT Example
The following SQL statement selects all (and duplicate) values from the "Country" column in the "Customers" table:
Now, let us use the DISTINCT keyword with the above SELECT statement and see the result.
SELECT DISTINCT Examples
The following SQL statement selects only the DISTINCT values from the "Country" column in the "Customers" table:
The following SQL statement lists the number of different (distinct) customer countries:
Note: The example above will not work in Firefox and Microsoft Edge! Because COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) is not supported in Microsoft Access databases. Firefox and Microsoft Edge are using Microsoft Access in our examples.
Here is the workaround for MS Access:
Example
SELECT Count(*) AS DistinctCountries
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT Country FROM Customers);
Try it Yourself »
