COUNT() — Count Rows

The COUNT() function returns the number of rows that match a condition.
It is one of the most commonly used aggregate functions.

You can use COUNT() in the following two ways:

Syntax	Syntax Example	Expected Output Description
COUNT(*)	SELECT COUNT(*) FROM employees;	Total number of rows in the table
COUNT(column)	SELECT COUNT(gender) FROM employees;	Number of rows where gender is not NULL

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Syntax

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name;

or:

SELECT COUNT(column) FROM table_name;

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Example 1: Total Number of Employees

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM employees;

This returns the total number of rows in the employees table (total employees).

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Example 2: Count Employees per Department

SELECT department, COUNT(*)
FROM employees
GROUP BY department;

This returns the number of employees in each department.

Example 3: Count Non-NULL Gender Values

SELECT COUNT(gender) FROM employees;

This counts the number of rows where gender is NOT NULL.

Example 4: Count Employees in IT Department

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM employees
WHERE department = 'IT';

This counts the number of employees who work in the IT department.

Tip

• COUNT(*) counts all rows.
• COUNT(column) counts non-NULL values only.

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The COUNT() function is a simple but powerful way to explore how many rows match your query!