Boolean data type in BigQuery

UpdatedMarch 2, 2026

•1 min read

Boolean data type in BigQuery

Constantin Lungu

Senior Data Engineer • Contractor / Freelancer • GCP & AWS Certified

Part of seriesPractical SQL

I remember that one of the things that struck me some years ago when switching from SQL Server to BigQuery was the existence of the bool data type in the latter, which I didn't have before.

I still see from time to time BigQuery code that does not leverage it to the fullest.

For example, this means you can just say val_b > val_a AS is_val_b_higher for a boolean flag instead of comparing and determining TRUE/FALSE. Also, just WHERE is_val_b_higher instead of WHERE is_val_b_higher IS/= TRUE.

This, in my opinion, makes the query much more readable when working with boolean flags.

If you properly name the flags, reading the query feels much closer to natural language.

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