Configuration parameter

default_statistics_target — PostgreSQL Configuration Parameter

Category Query Planner Default 100 Unit boolean / enum / numeric Change scope Per-session (SET)

Default sampling detail for ANALYZE statistics.

At a glance

Property Value
Parameter default_statistics_target
Category planner">Query Planner
Default 100
Value type boolean / enum / numeric
Change scope Per-session (SET)

What it does

Controls how many entries are stored in pg_statistic per column (histogram buckets / most-common-values). Higher means more accurate estimates but slower ANALYZE and larger stats.

How to apply a change

Can be set per session with SET, per role/database with ALTER ROLE/DATABASE ... SET, or globally in postgresql.conf.

Inspect the current value and source with SHOW default_statistics_target; or SELECT name, setting, unit, context, source FROM pg_settings WHERE name = 'default_statistics_target';.

Tuning guidance

Raise per-column with ALTER TABLE ... ALTER COLUMN ... SET STATISTICS for skewed/large columns feeding bad plans, rather than globally. Global 100 suits most workloads.

Reference

PostgreSQL documentation — Query Planner configuration.

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