The MySQL EXISTS Operator

The EXISTS operator is used to test for the existence of any record in a subquery.

The EXISTS operator returns TRUE if the subquery returns one or more records.

EXISTS Syntax

Demo Database

Below is a selection from the "Products" table in the Northwind sample database:

And a selection from the "Suppliers" table:

MySQL EXISTS Examples

The following SQL statement returns TRUE and lists the suppliers with a product price less than 20:

SELECT SupplierName FROM Suppliers WHERE EXISTS (SELECT ProductName FROM Products WHERE Products.SupplierID = Suppliers.supplierID AND Price < 20);

The following SQL statement returns TRUE and lists the suppliers with a product price equal to 22:

SELECT SupplierName FROM Suppliers WHERE EXISTS (SELECT ProductName FROM Products WHERE Products.SupplierID = Suppliers.supplierID AND Price = 22);