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 and DATETIME types, where the number of years can be positive (subtraction) or negative (addition).

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 types. For datetime and date formats, please refer to datetime conversion and date conversion
<years>	Number of years to subtract, type INT, positive numbers indicate subtraction, negative numbers indicate addition

Return Value

Returns a result consistent with the input type (DATE or DATETIME), representing the adjusted date or time:

• If input is DATE type, return value remains DATE type (only adjusts year, month, day).
• If input is DATETIME type, return value remains DATETIME type (year, month, day adjusted, hours, minutes, seconds remain unchanged).
• <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       |
+------------+

-- 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 year_add 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 year_add of 0000-01-01, -1 out of range