Subtract Years from a Date in PostgreSQL

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

Examples

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

SELECT date '2030-01-20' - interval '1 year';

Result:

2029-01-20 00:00:00

And in plural form:

SELECT date '2030-01-20' - interval '5 years';

Result:

2025-01-20 00:00:00

We can also use the equivalent number in months (or weeks or days for that matter):

SELECT date '2030-01-20' - interval '12 months';

Result:

2029-01-20 00:00:00

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

SELECT date '2030-01-20' - 365;

Result:

2029-01-20

Or like this:

SELECT date '2030-01-20' - integer '365';

Result:

2029-01-20

We can alternatively add a negative value to the date. In this case, we can use a negative value with the + sign:

Example:

SELECT date '2030-01-20' + interval '-7 years';

Result:

2023-01-20 00:00:00

We can do the same thing with the integer option:

SELECT date '2030-01-20' + integer '-365';

Result:

2029-01-20