value out of range: overflow

Symptoms

A numeric computation or conversion produced a value larger than the target type can hold. PostgreSQL raises SQLSTATE 22003 (numeric_value_out_of_range).

• Arithmetic result exceeds the type’s maximum.
• Common with multiplication/addition near the type’s limit.
• Also seen casting a large value into a narrower type.

What the server log shows

ERROR:  value out of range: overflow

Why PostgreSQL raises this — what the manual says

Section 8.1.3 Floating-Point Types:

“Values that are too large or too small will cause an error.”

Each numeric type has a fixed range. When an operation or cast produces a value beyond that range, it cannot be represented and PostgreSQL reports 22003 rather than silently wrapping.

Common causes

• Arithmetic exceeding the type’s maximum.
• Casting a large value into a smaller type.
• Accumulating sums that overflow an integer type.

How to fix it

1. Use a wider type (e.g. bigint or numeric).
2. Cast intermediate results to numeric to avoid integer overflow.
3. Validate input ranges before computation.

Related & next steps

• SQLSTATE 22003 — Numeric Value Out Of Range (full reference)
• Message: bigint out of range
• Glossary: Numeric types

Reference: PostgreSQL 18 Section 8.1 “Numeric Types”.