How to Compute an Absolute Value in SQL Database: SQL T-SQL PostgreSQL SQLite Oracle MySQL Operators: ABS Problem: You want to find the absolute value of a number. Example: You want to compute the absolute value (a.k.a. modulus) of each number in the column numbers from the table data. numbers -3.2 0 20 Solution: SELECT ABS(numbers) AS absolute_values FROM data; The result is: absolute_values 3.2 0 20 Discussion: To compute the absolute value of a number, use the ABS() function. This function takes a number as an argument and returns its value without the minus sign if there is one. The returned value will always be non-negative – zero for argument 0, positive for any other argument. Note that the returned value will differ from the argument only if the argument is negative. If, for some reason, you need to convert only the positive values to their negative equivalent and leave the other (i.e., zero and negative) values untouched, you can use a minus sign before the ABS() function. SELECT -ABS(numbers) AS non_positive FROM data; The result will be: non_positive -3.2 0 -20 Recommended courses: SQL Basics Standard SQL Functions Common PostgreSQL Functions Common Functions in SQL Server Recommended articles: 18 Useful Important SQL Functions to Learn ASAP 24 Rules to the SQL Formatting Standard How to Learn SQL: 6 Ideas for Newbies See also: How to Round Numbers in SQL How to Multiply Two Columns in SQL How to Floor Numbers in SQL How to Find Minimum Values in Columns Subscribe to our newsletter Join our monthly newsletter to be notified about the latest posts. Email address How Do You Write a SELECT Statement in SQL? What Is a Foreign Key in SQL? Enumerate and Explain All the Basic Elements of an SQL Query