What causes ARITHMETIC_OVERFLOW?

Multiplying two large INTEGER or BIGINT columns whose product exceeds the type's range. Casting a DOUBLE or DECIMAL with a large value to a smaller type like INT or SMALLINT. Aggregation functions (SUM, COUNT) accumulating values beyond the type limit over large datasets. Arithmetic on DECIMAL columns where intermediate results exceed the defined precision. An upstream data change introduced larger-than-expected numeric values

How do I fix ARITHMETIC_OVERFLOW?

Cast operands to a larger type before the operation: CAST(col AS BIGINT) * CAST(col2 AS BIGINT). Use TRY_CAST or TRY() to return NULL instead of raising an error on overflow. Review the column definitions — switch from INT to BIGINT or DECIMAL with higher precision. Inspect the actual data range: SELECT MAX(col), MIN(col) to see if the data exceeds type bounds. Add a data quality check upstream to reject or flag rows with values outside the expected range

Medium severitysql

Power BI Refresh Error:
ARITHMETIC_OVERFLOW

What does this error mean?

A numeric operation produced a result that exceeds the maximum value for the target data type. The query is aborted to prevent silent data corruption from truncated values.

Common causes

1Multiplying two large INTEGER or BIGINT columns whose product exceeds the type's range
2Casting a DOUBLE or DECIMAL with a large value to a smaller type like INT or SMALLINT
3Aggregation functions (SUM, COUNT) accumulating values beyond the type limit over large datasets
4Arithmetic on DECIMAL columns where intermediate results exceed the defined precision
5An upstream data change introduced larger-than-expected numeric values

How to fix it

1Cast operands to a larger type before the operation: CAST(col AS BIGINT) * CAST(col2 AS BIGINT)
2Use TRY_CAST or TRY() to return NULL instead of raising an error on overflow
3Review the column definitions — switch from INT to BIGINT or DECIMAL with higher precision
4Inspect the actual data range: SELECT MAX(col), MIN(col) to see if the data exceeds type bounds
5Add a data quality check upstream to reject or flag rows with values outside the expected range

Frequently asked questions

Can I suppress ARITHMETIC_OVERFLOW without fixing the query?

Yes — wrap the expression in TRY(): SELECT TRY(big_col * other_col) returns NULL instead of raising an error. Validate that NULLs are acceptable downstream before using this approach.

Does this error affect Python/PySpark code too?

In PySpark, Python arithmetic uses Python's arbitrary-precision integers, so overflow is less common. ARITHMETIC_OVERFLOW typically surfaces in Databricks SQL queries and Spark SQL expressions.