Contents
Introducing the SQL SUM() Function
SQL SUM()
is an aggregate function that allows you to get the sum of the selected numeric values.
Syntax for SUM() in SQL
To perform summation in SQL, we need to first select the values we need to add. To do that, we use the SELECT statement:
SELECT SUM(col_name)
FROM tbl_name
WHERE conditions;
In the syntax example above, you see three parameters:
col_name
defines the name of the columntbl_name
defines the name of the tableconditions
defines specific conditions to filter particular values

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Summation in SQL: an Example
To understand how to use SUM()
in SQL better, we'll show you a simple example using a demo database.
A Demo Database
We will be using a part of the table called Orders:
ID | Name | Count | Price | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Apple | 120 | 11.9 | 2017-08-18 |
2 | Milk | 50 | 9.1 | 2016-12-19 |
3 | Bread | 60 | 15.4 | 2017-06-21 |
4 | Water | 150 | 12.3 | 2017-07-10 |
5 | Chocolate | 85 | 21.9 | 2016-12-25 |
Using SQL SUM()
In the code example below, we take the data records from the Price column in the Orders table and find out the total sum:
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