---
title: "PostgreSQL to Oracle data types"
description: "Every PostgreSQL data type that Oracle stores differently, what the converter writes for it, when, and the report line."
canonical: https://intosql.com/docs/types/postgresql-to-oracle
last_updated: 2026-10-15
---

# PostgreSQL to Oracle data types

Each row is a type from PostgreSQL that Oracle stores differently: what the Oracle script gets, why, and the line the report writes about it. The rows come from the converter's own rules, so this page matches what it does.

**Convert in the browser:** [PostgreSQL to Oracle](/postgresql-to-oracle) opens the converter set up for this pair. The [PostgreSQL to Oracle migration guide](/docs/migrations/postgresql-to-oracle) covers dumping, loading and the rules for keys, indexes and names.

A report line is a fix when the converter changed something and lists it, or a problem when a value or object is worth a look.

## Numbers

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| numeric(p,s) past 38 digits; numeric without a precision | NUMBER when its values fit 38 digits, else VARCHAR2 | Oracle's NUMBER holds 38 digits at any scale. Wider numbers are kept as text so every digit stays exact. | `decimal_as_text` (fix) |
| money | NUMBER(19,2) | Oracle has no money type. The amount is kept as a number, without the currency symbol the server's locale added. | `type_replaced` (fix) |
| oid, xid, cid | NUMBER(10) with a CHECK that it isn't negative | NUMBER holds every value. | None |

## Booleans and bits

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| boolean | NUMBER(1) with a CHECK of 0 and 1 | Oracle 21c has no boolean column type; 1 and 0 keep true and false on every version. | None |
| bit(n), bit varying | NUMBER with the bits' value up to 63 bits; text digits beyond | Bit strings are stored as the number their bits make. | None |

## Text

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| varchar(n), char(n) | VARCHAR2(n CHAR), counting characters | Lengths count characters as PostgreSQL's do. | None |
| text | VARCHAR2(4000 CHAR) when every value fits 4000 bytes (750 characters in a key), else CLOB | A VARCHAR2 holds 4000 bytes by default and Oracle can't index a CLOB, so text keeps VARCHAR2 when its values fit and is a CLOB when they don't. | `text_as_lob` (fix) |
| empty strings and empty bytea values | NULL | Oracle stores an empty string as NULL, so a value that was ' reads back as NULL. The report counts them per column. | `empty_string_null` (problem) |
| text that isn't valid in its encoding | the bad bytes as the replacement character | The script is UTF-8 and loads with NLS_LANG=.AL32UTF8. | `invalid_utf8_replaced` (problem) |

## Enums and sets

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| enum types | VARCHAR2 with a CHECK of its labels | Text with a check keeps the same values. | None |
| enum columns holding values outside their labels | VARCHAR2 without a check | Values the labels don't name would fail the check, so the check isn't created. | `enum_check_skipped` (problem) |

## Dates and times

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| interval | VARCHAR2(100 CHAR) with PostgreSQL's text | An interval mixes months with days and seconds, which Oracle keeps in two different types; the text keeps every part. | `type_replaced` (fix) |
| timestamp | TIMESTAMP | A timestamp without time zone is a wall-clock reading, like Oracle's TIMESTAMP. date becomes DATE, which also holds a time of day that stays at midnight. | None |
| timestamp with time zone | TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, written in UTC | Each value is written in UTC, the same instant whatever offset the dump wrote. | None |
| time | INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND from midnight | Oracle has no time-of-day type; an interval from midnight holds every value, 24:00:00 included. | None |
| infinity, -infinity, BC dates and years past 9999 | NULL | The script writes years 1 to 9999, and Oracle has no infinity. Those values become NULL and the report counts them. | `date_out_of_range` (problem) |

## Binary

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| bytea | BLOB | Bytes stay bytes. | None |

## JSON, spatial and other types

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| arrays (integer[], text[]...) | CLOB with a JSON array | Oracle has no arrays. A JSON array keeps every item and NULL, and JSON_TABLE reads it. | `type_replaced` (fix) |
| ranges, geometric types, tsvector, xml, hstore, PostGIS, composite and extension types | VARCHAR2 or CLOB with PostgreSQL's text | Oracle has no equivalent type, so each value keeps the text PostgreSQL wrote. | `type_replaced` (fix) |
| json, jsonb | CLOB | Oracle's JSON functions read JSON from text on every version, and a CLOB keeps values of any size. | None |
| NaN and Infinity in numeric | NULL | Oracle's NUMBER has no NaN or Infinity, so those values become NULL and the report counts them. | `invalid_value_null` (problem) |
| uuid, inet, cidr, macaddr | VARCHAR2 | Oracle has no such types; the text keeps every value. | None |
| types IntoSQL doesn't know | CLOB | Text holds any value; change the type after loading. | `unknown_type` (problem) |

## Counters and identities

| In PostgreSQL | In Oracle | Why | Report line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| serial, identity | GENERATED BY DEFAULT ON NULL AS IDENTITY, continuing after the highest id | The copied ids load as they are, and the counter continues after the highest one or the sequence's next value, whichever is higher. | None |
| a second serial or identity column in a table | a plain integer | Oracle counts one identity column per table; any other keeps its values without a counter. | `counter_dropped` (problem) |

## Other pairs

- PostgreSQL into [PostgreSQL](/docs/types/postgresql-to-postgresql), [MySQL](/docs/types/postgresql-to-mysql), [MariaDB](/docs/types/postgresql-to-mariadb), [SQLite](/docs/types/postgresql-to-sqlite), [SQL Server](/docs/types/postgresql-to-sql-server)
- Into Oracle from [MySQL](/docs/types/mysql-to-oracle), [MariaDB](/docs/types/mariadb-to-oracle), [SQL Server](/docs/types/sql-server-to-oracle), [SQLite](/docs/types/sqlite-to-oracle), [Oracle](/docs/types/oracle-to-oracle)
- [Every pair](/docs/types#from-one-database-to-another)