T-SQL Tutorial

Difference between Varchar and Nvarchar


Varchar vs Nvarchar

Varchar data type can store non-Unicode string data.
Varchar stores data at 1 byte per character.
Varchar supports up to 8000 characters.
Nvarchar data type can store Unicode string data.
Nvarchar stores data at 2 bytes per character.
Nvarchar supports up to 4000 characters.





Varchar

USE model;
GO
DECLARE @varVarchar AS varchar(250) = '☥2625';
SELECT @varVarchar as v_var;
GO

Results

v_var
?2625

Nvarchar

USE model;
GO
DECLARE @varNvarchar AS nvarchar(250) = N'☥2625';
SELECT @varNvarchar as n_var;
GO

Results

n_var
☥2625