SQL ORDER BY Keyword

SQL

SQL ORDER BY Keyword : SQL ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set in ascending or descending order.

  • The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set in ascending or descending order.
  • The ORDER BY keyword sorts the records in ascending order by default. To sort the records in descending order, use the DESC keyword.

ORDER BY Syntax

SELECT column1, column2, …
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column1, column2, … ASC|DESC;

Demo Database

Below is a selection from the “Customers” table in the Northwind sample database:

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
1 Alfreds Futterkiste Maria Anders Obere Str. 57 Berlin 12209 Germany
2 Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados Ana Trujillo Avda. de la Constitución 2222 México D.F. 05021 Mexico
3 Antonio Moreno Taquería Antonio Moreno Mataderos 2312 México D.F. 05023 Mexico
4 Around the Horn Thomas Hardy 120 Hanover Sq. London WA1 1DP UK
5 Berglunds snabbköp Christina Berglund Berguvsvägen 8 Luleå S-958 22 Sweden

ORDER BY Example

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the “Customers” table, sorted by the “Country” column:

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country;

Output

Number of Records: 3

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
12 Cactus Comidas para llevar Patricio Simpson Cerrito 333 Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
54 Océano Atlántico Ltda. Yvonne Moncada Ing. Gustavo Moncada 8585 Piso 20-A Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
64 Rancho grande Sergio Gutiérrez Av. del Libertador 900 Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina

 

ORDER BY DESC Example

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the “Customers” table, sorted DESCENDING by the “Country” column:

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country DESC;

Output

Number of Records: 4

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
33 GROSELLA-Restaurante Manuel Pereira 5ª Ave. Los Palos Grandes Caracas 1081 Venezuela
35 HILARIÓN-Abastos Carlos Hernández Carrera 22 con Ave. Carlos Soublette #8-35 San Cristóbal 5022 Venezuela
46 LILA-Supermercado Carlos González Carrera 52 con Ave. Bolívar #65-98 Llano Largo Barquisimeto 3508 Venezuela
47 LINO-Delicateses Felipe Izquierdo Ave. 5 de Mayo Porlamar I. de Margarita 4980 Venezuela

 

ORDER BY Several Columns Example

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the “Customers” table, sorted by the “Country” and the “CustomerName” column:

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country, CustomerName;

Output

Number of Records: 9

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
12 Cactus Comidas para llevar Patricio Simpson Cerrito 333 Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
54 Océano Atlántico Ltda. Yvonne Moncada Ing. Gustavo Moncada 8585 Piso 20-A Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
64 Rancho grande Sergio Gutiérrez Av. del Libertador 900 Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
20 Ernst Handel Roland Mendel Kirchgasse 6 Graz 8010 Austria
59 Piccolo und mehr Georg Pipps Geislweg 14 Salzburg 5020 Austria
50 Maison Dewey Catherine Dewey Rue Joseph-Bens 532 Bruxelles B-1180 Belgium
76 Suprêmes délices Pascale Cartrain Boulevard Tirou, 255 Charleroi B-6000 Belgium
15 Comércio Mineiro Pedro Afonso Av. dos Lusíadas, 23 São Paulo 05432-043 Brazil
21 Familia Arquibaldo Aria Cruz Rua Orós, 92 São Paulo 05442-030 Brazil

 

ORDER BY Several Columns Example 2

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the “Customers” table, sorted ascending by the “Country” and descending by the “CustomerName” column:

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country ASC, CustomerName DESC;

Output

Number of Records: 8

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
64 Rancho grande Sergio Gutiérrez Av. del Libertador 900 Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
54 Océano Atlántico Ltda. Yvonne Moncada Ing. Gustavo Moncada 8585 Piso 20-A Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
12 Cactus Comidas para llevar Patricio Simpson Cerrito 333 Buenos Aires 1010 Argentina
59 Piccolo und mehr Georg Pipps Geislweg 14 Salzburg 5020 Austria
20 Ernst Handel Roland Mendel Kirchgasse 6 Graz 8010 Austria
76 Suprêmes délices Pascale Cartrain Boulevard Tirou, 255 Charleroi B-6000 Belgium
50 Maison Dewey Catherine Dewey Rue Joseph-Bens 532 Bruxelles B-1180 Belgium
88 Wellington Importadora Paula Parente Rua do Mercado, 12 Resende 08737-363 Brazil