I have a query made by joining two subqueries where the outer query performing the join takes significantly longer to run than the two subqueries. The first subquery runs in 600ms. The seconds subquery runs in 700ms. But the outer query takes 240 seconds to run! Both of the two subqueries only return 8728 rows. Changing the inner join to a left join makes the outer query run in about 1000ms (which is great), but I don't understand why the inner join is so slow! I'm using PostgreSQL 8.2.1. Any ideas? QUERY PLAN (Inner Join) - takes 240 seconds ------------------- Nested Loop (cost=17.46..17.56 rows=1 width=120) Join Filter: ((a.merchant_dim_id = b.merchant_dim_id) AND (a.dcms_dim_id = b.dcms_dim_id)) -> HashAggregate (cost=8.71..8.74 rows=1 width=16) -> Index Scan using transaction_facts_transaction_date_idx on transaction_facts (cost=0.00..8.69 rows=1 width=16) Index Cond: ((transaction_date >= '2007-01-09 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) AND (transaction_date < '2007-01-09 09:30:00'::timestamp without time zone)) -> HashAggregate (cost=8.75..8.78 rows=1 width=16) -> HashAggregate (cost=8.71..8.72 rows=1 width=55) -> Index Scan using transaction_facts_transaction_date_idx on transaction_facts (cost=0.00..8.69 rows=1 width=55) Index Cond: ((transaction_date >= '2007-01-09 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) AND (transaction_date < '2007-01-09 09:30:00'::timestamp without time zone)) QUERY PLAN (Left Join) - takes one second ------------------- Merge Left Join (cost=304037.63..304064.11 rows=2509 width=120) Merge Cond: ((a.dcms_dim_id = b.dcms_dim_id) AND (a.merchant_dim_id = b.merchant_dim_id)) -> Sort (cost=152019.45..152025.72 rows=2509 width=64) Sort Key: a.dcms_dim_id, a.merchant_dim_id -> HashAggregate (cost=151771.15..151852.69 rows=2509 width=16) -> Bitmap Heap Scan on transaction_facts (cost=5015.12..150419.90 rows=77214 width=16) Recheck Cond: ((transaction_date >= '2007-01-09 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) AND (transaction_date < '2007-01-09 09:30:00'::timestamp without time zone)) -> Bitmap Index Scan on transaction_facts_transaction_date_idx (cost=0.00..4995.81 rows=77214 width=0) Index Cond: ((transaction_date >= '2007-01-09 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) AND (transaction_date < '2007-01-09 09:30:00'::timestamp without time zone)) -> Sort (cost=152018.18..152020.54 rows=943 width=64) Sort Key: b.dcms_dim_id, b.merchant_dim_id -> Subquery Scan b (cost=151931.51..151971.59 rows=943 width=64) -> HashAggregate (cost=151931.51..151962.16 rows=943 width=16) -> HashAggregate (cost=151578.11..151672.35 rows=9424 width=55) -> Bitmap Heap Scan on transaction_facts (cost=5015.12..150419.90 rows=77214 width=55) Recheck Cond: ((transaction_date >= '2007-01-09 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) AND (transaction_date < '2007-01-09 09:30:00'::timestamp without time zone)) -> Bitmap Index Scan on transaction_facts_transaction_date_idx (cost=0.00..4995.81 rows=77214 width=0) Index Cond: ((transaction_date >= '2007-01-09 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) AND (transaction_date < '2007-01-09 09:30:00'::timestamp without time zone)) QUERY ------------------- select a.merchant_dim_id, a.dcms_dim_id, a.num_success, a.num_failed, a.total_transactions, a.success_rate, b.distinct_num_success, b.distinct_num_failed, b.distinct_total_transactions, b.distinct_success_rate from ( -- SUBQUERY 1 select merchant_dim_id, dcms_dim_id, sum(success) as num_success, sum(failed) as num_failed, count(*) as total_transactions, (sum(success) * 1.0 / count(*)) as success_rate from transaction_facts where transaction_date >= '2007-1-9' and transaction_date < '2007-1-9 9:30' group by merchant_dim_id, dcms_dim_id ) as a inner join ( -- SUBQUERY 2 select merchant_dim_id, dcms_dim_id, sum(success) as distinct_num_success, sum(failed) as distinct_num_failed, count(*) as distinct_total_transactions, (sum(success) * 1.0 / count(*)) as distinct_success_rate from ( select merchant_dim_id, dcms_dim_id, serial_number, success, failed from transaction_facts where transaction_date >= '2007-1-9' and transaction_date < '2007-1-9 9:30' group by merchant_dim_id, dcms_dim_id, serial_number, success, failed ) as distinct_summary group by merchant_dim_id, dcms_dim_id ) as b using(merchant_dim_id, dcms_dim_id)