Recursive CTE

A CTE that repeatedly refers to its own accumulated result until no new rows are produced.

What is Recursive CTE in a relational database?

Recursive CTE — A CTE that repeatedly refers to its own accumulated result until no new rows are produced.

WITH RECURSIVE number_list (number) AS (
    VALUES (1)
    UNION ALL
    SELECT number + 1 FROM number_list WHERE number < 5
)
SELECT number FROM number_list;

Level: Journeyman · More Database terms at this level

Updated September 27, 2026