Subtract Months from a Date in PostgreSQL

In PostgreSQL, we can use the - operator to subtract one or more months from a date.

Examples

We can specify intervals when subtracting from dates. For example, we can use month or months to subtract one or more months from a date:

SELECT date '2040-03-18' - interval '1 month';

Result:

2040-02-18 00:00:00

And in plural form:

SELECT date '2040-03-18' - interval '6 months';

Result:

2039-09-18 00:00:00

We can also use the equivalent number in days (or even weeks):

SELECT date '2040-06-20' - interval '31 days';

Result:

2040-05-20 00:00:00

We can also use an integer when specifying it in days:

SELECT date '2040-06-20' - 31;

Result:

2040-05-20

Or like this:

SELECT date '2040-06-20' - integer '31';

Result:

2040-05-20

We can also add negative values to dates. In this case, we can use a negative value with the + sign:

Example:

SELECT date '2040-06-20' + interval '-6 months';

Result:

2039-12-20 00:00:00

We can do the same thing with the integer option:

SELECT date '2040-06-20' + integer '-31';

Result:

2040-05-20