Creating a table from query results (CTAS) - Amazon Athena

Creating a table from query results (CTAS)

A CREATE TABLE AS SELECT (CTAS) query creates a new table in Athena from the results of a SELECT statement from another query. Athena stores data files created by the CTAS statement in a specified location in Amazon S3. For syntax, see CREATE TABLE AS.

Use CTAS queries to:

  • Create tables from query results in one step, without repeatedly querying raw data sets. This makes it easier to work with raw data sets.

  • Transform query results and migrate tables into other table formats such as Apache Iceberg. This improves query performance and reduces query costs in Athena. For information, see Creating Iceberg tables.

  • Transform query results into storage formats such as Parquet and ORC. This improves query performance and reduces query costs in Athena. For information, see Columnar storage formats.

  • Create copies of existing tables that contain only the data you need.