Applying Aggregate Functions and GROUP BY in MySQL
Jul 12, 2025 am 02:19 AMThe aggregation function is used to perform calculations on a set of values ??and return a single value. Common ones include COUNT, SUM, AVG, MAX, and MIN; GROUP BY groups data by one or more columns and applies an aggregation function to each group. For example, GROUP BY user_id is required to count the total order amount of each user; SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) FROM orders GROUP BY user_id; non-aggregated fields must appear in GROUP BY; multiple fields can be used for multi-condition grouping; HAVING is used instead of WHERE after grouping; application scenarios such as counting the number of classified products, maximum order users, monthly sales trends, etc. Mastering these can effectively solve data statistics problems.
In MySQL query, when we need to count and summarize the data, aggregate functions (such as COUNT
, SUM
, AVG
, MAX
, MIN
) come in handy. But having an aggregation function alone is not enough. Many times we need to group it by a certain field before doing statistics. At this time, we must use GROUP BY
in conjunction with it.

What is an aggregate function?
An aggregate function is a function that performs calculations on a set of values ??and returns a single value. Common ones include:

-
COUNT()
: count the number of rows -
SUM()
: Sum -
AVG()
: Find the average value -
MAX()
andMIN()
: Find the maximum or minimum value
For example, if you want to know the total amount of all orders in a certain order table, you can use:
SELECT SUM(amount) FROM orders;
This adds up amount
fields of the entire table and outputs a total number. But what if you want to know the total order amount for each user? GROUP BY
is needed at this time.

What does GROUP BY do?
The function of GROUP BY
is to group data by one or more columns, and then apply an aggregate function to each group separately.
For example, suppose you have a user order table orders
with user_id
and amount
fields. If you want to know the total order amount of each user, you can write it like this:
SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) AS total_amount FROM orders GROUP BY user_id;
The meaning of this statement is: grouped by user_id
, each group of data is performed once SUM(amount)
operation, and finally the total amount of each user is returned.
It should be noted that non-aggregated fields that appear in SELECT
generally need to appear after GROUP BY
. Otherwise, errors may occur or results may be unpredictable, especially if SQL mode ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY
is enabled.
Common misunderstandings and precautions
Don't miss GROUP BY
Many beginners make this mistake:
SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) FROM orders;
This statement will report an error in some database systems because user_id
is not aggregated and does not appear in GROUP BY
clause.
GROUP BY Multiple Fields
If you want to count by user and order year, you can write this:
SELECT user_id, YEAR(order_date), SUM(amount) FROM orders GROUP BY user_id, YEAR(order_date);
HAVING is used after aggregation
If you want to filter out users whose "total amount is greater than 1000", you cannot use WHERE
, but HAVING
:
SELECT user_id, SUM(amount) AS total FROM orders GROUP BY user_id HAVING total > 1000;
WHERE
filters rows before grouping, while HAVING
filters the results after grouping.
Examples of practical application scenarios
Scenario 1: Statistics the quantity of products under each category
SELECT category_id, COUNT(*) AS product_count FROM products GROUP BY category_id;
Scenario 2: Find the top 5 users with the most orders
SELECT user_id, COUNT(*) AS order_count FROM orders GROUP BY user_id ORDER BY order_count DESC LIMIT 5;
Scenario 3: Check the sales trends of each month
SELECT DATE_FORMAT(order_date, '%Y-%m') AS month, SUM(amount) AS total_sales FROM orders GROUP BY month ORDER BY month;
Basically that's it. Mastering the combination of aggregate functions and GROUP BY
can help you solve most data statistics problems. Although the syntax is not complicated, it is easy to ignore some details in actual queries, such as field omissions, misuse of WHERE
, etc., and you can become proficient after practicing a few more times.
The above is the detailed content of Applying Aggregate Functions and GROUP BY in MySQL. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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