SQL EXISTS Statement

SQL EXISTS Description

The EXISTS operator is used to check the existence of any record in the subquery.

The EXISTS operator returns TRUE if the subquery returns one or more records.

EXISTS Syntax

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE EXISTS
(SELECT column_name FROM table_name WHERE condition)

Demonstration database

The following is a sample from the "Products" ("Products") table of the Northwind database:

ProductID	ProductName	SupplierID	CategoryID	Unit	Price
1	Chais	1	1	10 boxes x 20 bags	18.00
2	Chang	1	1	24 - 12 oz bottles	19.00
3	Aniseed Syrup	1	2	12 - 550 ml bottles	10.00
4	Chef Anton's Cajun Seasoning	2	2	48 - 6 oz jars	22.00
5	Chef Anton's Gumbo Mix	2	2	36 boxes	21.35

And the sample from the table "Suppliers" ("Suppliers"):

SupplierID	SupplierName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country	Phone
1	Exotic Liquid	Charlotte Cooper	49 Gilbert St.	Londona	EC1 4SD	UK	(171) 555-2222
2	New Orleans Cajun Delights	Shelley Burke	P.O. Box 78934	New Orleans	70117	USA	(100) 555-4822
3	Grandma Kelly's Homestead	Regina Murphy	707 Oxford Rd.	Ann Arbor	48104	USA	(313) 555-5735
4	Tokyo Traders	Yoshi Nagase	9-8 Sekimai Musashino-shi	Tokyo	100	Japan	(03) 3555-5011
5	Cooperativa de Quesos 'Las Cabras'	Antonio del Valle Saavedra	Calle del Rosal 4	Oviedo	33007	Spain	(98) 598 76 54

SQL EXISTS Examples

The following SQL query returns TRUE and contains a list of suppliers with a product price less than 20:

Run SQLSELECT SupplierName 
FROM Suppliers 
WHERE EXISTS (SELECT ProductName 
              FROM Products 
              WHERE Products.SupplierID = Suppliers.supplierID 
                AND Price < 20)

Another SQL statement returns TRUE and contains a list of suppliers with a product price equal to 22:

Run SQLSELECT SupplierName 
FROM Suppliers 
WHERE EXISTS (SELECT ProductName 
              FROM Products 
              WHERE Products.SupplierID = Suppliers.supplierID 
                AND Price = 22)