LIMIT, FETCH, and OFFSET Clauses

The LIMIT clause specifies the maximum number of rows to return. <count> specifies the maximum number of rows to return. The LIMIT clause consists of two independent subclauses, LIMIT { <count> | ALL } and OFFSET <start>. <start> specifies the number of rows to skip before starting to return rows.

If you use LIMIT, use an ORDER BY that uniquely orders results. Without ORDER BY, you get a random subset of the query’s rows.

If the <count> expression evaluates to NULL, it’s treated as LIMIT ALL. If <start> evaluates to NULL, it’s treated the same as OFFSET 0.

An alternative to LIMIT and OFFSET is FETCH and OFFSET.

In this syntax, the <start> or <count> value is a literal constant, a parameter, or a variable name. The default <count> is 1. The WITH TIES option returns rows that tie for the last place in the result set.