Data Types

Snowflake supports most basic SQL data types (with some restrictions) for use in columns, local variables, expressions, parameters, and any other appropriate/suitable locations.

Boolean Data Type

BigQuery	Snowflake	Notes
BOOL	BOOLEAN	BOOL data type convert to BOOLEAN data type in Snowflake.

Bytes Data Type

BigQuery	Snowflake	Notes
BYTES	BINARY	BYTES data type is not supported in Snowflake. BINARY is used instead. For more information, please refer to the BYTES data type documentation.

Datetime Data Types

BigQuery	Snowflake	Notes
DATE	DATE	Supported data type in Snowflake. DATE accepts dates in the most common forms (YYYY-MM-DD, DD-MON-YYYY, etc.).
DATETIME	DATETIME	DATETIME is an alias for TIMESTAMP_NTZ in Snowflake.
TIMESTAMP	TIMESTAMP_TZ	TIMESTAMP data type is converted to TIMESTAMP_TZ. For more information, please refer to the TIMESTAMP data type documentation.
TIME	TIME	A time value represents a time of day, as might be displayed on a clock, independent of a specific date and time zone

Geography Data Type

BigQuery	Snowflake	Notes
GEOGRAPHY	GEOGRAPHY	Supported data type in Snowflake. For more information, please refer to the GEOGRAPHY data type documentation.

Interval Data Type

BigQuery	Snowflake	Notes
INTERVAL	VARCHAR(30)	INTERVAL data type is not supported in Snowflake. VARCHAR is used instead. For more information, please refer to the INTERVAL data type documentation.

Json Data Type

JSON	VARIANT	JSON data type is not supported in Snowflake. VARIANT is used instead. For more information, please refer to the JSON data type documentation.

Numeric Data Types

BigQuery	Snowflake	Notes
INT64	INT	INT is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
INT	INT	INT is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
SMALLINT	SMALLINT	SMALLINT is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
INTEGER	INTEGER	INTEGER is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
BIGINT	BIGINT	BIGINT is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
TINYINT	TINYINT	TINYINT is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
BYTEINT	BYTEINT	BYTEINT is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
NUMERIC	NUMERIC	NUMERIC is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
DECIMAL	DECIMAL	DECIMAL is an alias for the NUMBER data type in Snowflake. The maximum precision and scale is NUMBER(38,37).
BIGNUMERIC	NUMERIC​	BIGNUMERIC data type is not supported in Snowflake. NUMERIC is used instead. The precision and scale maximum was reduced to NUMBER(38,37).
BIGDECIMAL	DECIMAL	BIGNUMERIC data type is not supported in Snowflake. DECIMAL is used instead. The precision and scale maximum was reduced to NUMBER(38,37).
FLOAT64	FLOAT	FLOAT64 data type convert to FLOAT data type in Snowflake. Snowflake uses double-precision (64 bit) IEEE 754 floating-point numbers.

String Data Types

BigQuery	Snowflake	Notes
STRING	STRING	STRING is an alias for the VARCHAR data type in Snowflake. VARCHAR holds Unicode UTF-8 characters.