Format number as percent in MS SQL Server

I am trying to simply format a number as a percent with two decimal places. If it is 37 divided by 38 (aka .973684210526315789), I would like it to show 97.36 % in the SQL output. I know it is recommended to do formatting in the Application, however this is for an automated export. This is using SQL Server 2008.

Here is what I have now:

select CONVERT(VARCHAR(50),cast(37 as decimal)/cast(38 as decimal)*100)+' %' AS [%]

If you could explain what the various parameters are as well in any function that would be helpful.

Solution 1:

In SQL Server 2012 and later, there is the FORMAT() function. You can pass it a 'P' parameter for percentage. For example:

SELECT FORMAT((37.0/38.0),'P') as [Percentage] -- 97.37 %

To support percentage decimal precision, you can use P0 for no decimals (whole-numbers) or P3 for 3 decimals (97.368%).

SELECT FORMAT((37.0/38.0),'P0') as [WholeNumberPercentage] -- 97 %
SELECT FORMAT((37.0/38.0),'P3') as [ThreeDecimalsPercentage] -- 97.368 %

Solution 2:

M.Ali's answer could be modified as

select Cast(Cast((37.0/38.0)*100 as decimal(18,2)) as varchar(5)) + ' %' as Percentage