PostgreSQL var_pop() Function

The PostgreSQL var_pop() function is an aggregate function that computes the population variance (square of the population standard deviation) for all non-null input values.

var_pop() Syntax

Here is the syntax of the PostgreSQL var_pop() function:

var_pop(expr)

Typically, we use the var_pop() function like:

SELECT var_pop(expr), ...
FROM table_name
[WHERE ...]
[GROUP BY group_expr1, group_expr2, ...];

Parameters

expr

Required. A column name or expression.

Return value

The PostgreSQL var_pop() function returns the population variance (square of the population standard deviation) for all non-null input values.

Note that the var_pop() function only handles non-null values. That is, null values ​​are ignored by the var_pop() function.

var_pop() Examples

To demonstrate usages of the PostgreSQL var_pop() function, we simulate a temporary table using the following statement with UNION and SELECT:

SELECT 4 x
UNION
SELECT 5 x
UNION
SELECT 6 x;

 x
---
 4
 6
 5
(3 rows)

The following statement uses the var_pop() function to calculate the population variance of all the values ​​in the x column:

SELECT var_pop(x)
FROM (
    SELECT 4 x
    UNION
    SELECT 5 x
    UNION
    SELECT 6 x
  ) t;

        var_pop
------------------------
 0.66666666666666666667
(1 rows)