YEARS_SUB

Description

The YEARS_SUB function is used to subtract (or add) a specified number of years from a given date or time value, returning the adjusted date or time (essentially subtracting years_value × 1 year). It supports processing DATE, DATETIME, and TIMESTAMP_NS types, where the number of years can be positive (subtraction) or negative (addition). This function supports DATE, DATETIME, TIMESTAMP_NS, and TIMESTAMPTZ input types.

This function behaves consistently with the date_sub function using YEAR as the unit in MySQL.

Syntax

YEARS_SUB(`<date_or_time_expr>`, `<years>`)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
<date_or_time_expr>	Input datetime value, supports DATE/DATETIME/TIMESTAMP_NS/TIMESTAMPTZ types. For specific formats, please refer to timestamptz conversion, datetime conversion and date conversion
<years>	Number of years to subtract, type INT, positive numbers indicate subtraction, negative numbers indicate addition

Return Value

A TIMESTAMP_NS input returns TIMESTAMP_NS with fixed nine-digit fractional-second precision. Results are validated against the range of the return type; TIMESTAMP_NS uses its range of [1677-09-21 00:12:43.145224192, 2262-04-11 23:47:16.854775807].

Returns a result consistent with the input type (DATE, DATETIME, TIMESTAMP_NS, or TIMESTAMPTZ), representing the adjusted date or time, the return value type is determined by the type of the first parameter:

• If input is DATE type, return value is DATE type (only adjusts year, month, day).
• If input is DATETIME type, return value is DATETIME type (year, month, day adjusted, hours, minutes, seconds remain unchanged).
• If input is TIMESTAMPTZ type, return value is TIMESTAMPTZ type (includes date, time and timezone offset).
• <years_value> as negative number indicates adding years (equivalent to YEARS_ADD(<datetime_or_date_value>, <years_value>)).
• Any input parameter is NULL, returns NULL.
• If calculation result exceeds valid date type range (0000-01-01 00:00:00 to 9999-12-31 23:59:59), returns error.
• If the adjusted month has insufficient days (e.g., from leap year February 29th subtract 1 year to non-leap year February 28th), automatically adjusts to the actual number of days in that month.

Examples

-- DATETIME type subtract 1 year (basic functionality, hours, minutes, seconds remain unchanged)
SELECT YEARS_SUB('2020-02-02 02:02:02', 1) AS sub_1_year_datetime;
+---------------------+
| sub_1_year_datetime |
+---------------------+
| 2019-02-02 02:02:02 |
+---------------------+

-- DATETIME type add 1 year (negative years_value, cross-year)
SELECT YEARS_SUB('2022-05-10 15:40:20', -1) AS add_1_year_datetime;
+---------------------+
| add_1_year_datetime |
+---------------------+
| 2023-05-10 15:40:20 |
+---------------------+

-- DATE type subtract 3 years (only adjust date)
SELECT YEARS_SUB('2022-12-25', 3) AS sub_3_year_date;
+-----------------+
| sub_3_year_date |
+-----------------+
| 2019-12-25      |
+-----------------+

-- Leap day handling (from leap year February 29th subtract 1 year to non-leap year February 28th)
SELECT YEARS_SUB('2020-02-29', 1) AS leap_day_adjust_1;
+-------------------+
| leap_day_adjust_1 |
+-------------------+
| 2019-02-28        |
+-------------------+

-- Input is NULL (returns NULL)
SELECT YEARS_SUB(NULL, 5) AS null_input;
+------------+
| null_input |
+------------+
| NULL       |
+------------+

-- Example of TimeStampTz type, SET time_zone = '+08:00'
SELECT YEARS_SUB('2025-10-10 11:22:33.123+07:00', 1);
+-----------------------------------------------+
| YEARS_SUB('2025-10-10 11:22:33.123+07:00', 1) |
+-----------------------------------------------+
| 2024-10-10 12:22:33.123+08:00                 |
+-----------------------------------------------+

-- Calculation result exceeds datetime range (upper limit)
SELECT YEARS_SUB('9999-12-31', -1);
ERROR 1105 (HY000): errCode = 2, detailMessage = (10.16.10.3)[E-218]Operation years_sub of 9999-12-31, 1 out of range

-- Calculation result exceeds datetime range (lower limit)
SELECT YEARS_SUB('0000-01-01', 1);
ERROR 1105 (HY000): errCode = 2, detailMessage = (10.16.10.3)[E-218]Operation years_sub of 0000-01-01, -1 out of range