ABS (Transact‑SQL)

Synopsis

Returns the absolute (positive) value of the numeric expression.

Syntax
Parameters
Return Value
ABS ( numeric_expression )
numeric_expressionExpression of any numeric data type. The argument can be a tinyint, smallint, int, bigint, decimal, numeric, float, or real value.

The return type is the same as the input type, except for float and real, which return float.

Examples

Basic Usage
Using with Columns
SELECT ABS(-5)  AS AbsValue1,
       ABS(5.23) AS AbsValue2;

Result:

AbsValue1  AbsValue2
---------- ----------
5          5.23
CREATE TABLE SalesAmount
(
    SaleId int,
    Amount decimal(10,2)
);

INSERT INTO SalesAmount VALUES
(1,  150.00),
(2, -200.50),
(3,   75.25);

SELECT SaleId,
       Amount,
       ABS(Amount) AS AbsoluteAmount
FROM SalesAmount;

Result:

SaleId  Amount   AbsoluteAmount
------  -------- ---------------
1       150.00    150.00
2      -200.50    200.50
3        75.25     75.25

See also