The division operator in SQL is used to divide one expression or number by another. It is considered an arithmetic operator, along with addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and modulus (%). The syntax for the division operator in SQL is straightforward:

The division operator can be used in various clauses such as SELECT, WHERE, HAVING, ORDER BY, or as part of a function¹.

Integer Division in SQL

When dividing integers in SQL, the behavior may vary depending on the SQL database management system (DBMS) you are using. For example, in MySQL and Oracle, the result of dividing two integers will be a real number (float), e.g., 3 / 2 = 1.5. However, in SQL Server and PostgreSQL, the result will be an integer, with any fractional part truncated, e.g., 3 / 2 = 1¹.

Example

Consider a table called stock with columns item, price, and quantity: