How To Extract Numbers From A String In PHP

When working with text data in PHP, you might need to extract numerical values from a string. This is a common task in data processing, such as parsing user input or extracting data from strings containing mixed content. In this tutorial you will learn how to extract numbers from a string in PHP with different approaches.

Using Regular Expressions with preg_match_all()

Regular expressions are a powerful way to match and extract specific patterns from strings. You can use the preg_match_all() function with /\d+.\d+|\d+/ regex pattern in PHP to find and extract all numbers from a given string. Here is an example:

$inputString = 'The price of the product is $99.99, and the discount is 20%.';
preg_match_all('/\d+\.\d+|\d+/', $inputString, $matches);

print_r($matches[0]);

Array
(
    [0] => 99.99
    [1] => 20
)

In this example, the regular expression /\d+.\d+|\d+/ is used to match and extract numbers from the $inputString. It captures both decimal numbers (with or without a decimal point) and whole numbers.

Using preg_replace() to Remove Non-Numeric Characters

Another approach to extract numbers from a string is to use preg_replace() to remove all non-numeric characters, leaving only the numbers.

$inputString = 'The price of the product is $99.99, and the discount is 20%.';

$integer = preg_replace('/[^0-9]+/', '', $inputString);
$double = preg_replace('/[^0-9.]+/', '', $inputString);

echo $integer . PHP_EOL;
echo $double . PHP_EOL;

999920  
99.9920.

In this example, the preg_replace('/[^0-9.]+/', '', $inputString) statement replaces all non-numeric characters (including decimal points) with an empty string, effectively leaving only the numbers.

Using filter_var() to Extract Numbers from URL String

PHP’s filter_var function can be utilized to filter and extract numeric values from a string. This approach is particularly useful if you’re dealing with numbers that follow a specific format. For instance, you can extract numbers following the format of a URL:

$string = "Visit https://example.com/2023 for more information.";
$filtered = filter_var($string, FILTER_SANITIZE_NUMBER_INT);

echo $filtered;

2023

In this example, FILTER_SANITIZE_NUMBER_INT is used to filter out integer numbers from the string. The result will be “2023.”

Wrap the PHP Number Extraction Code in a Custom Function

You can also create custom functions to extract numbers from a string. This approach is particularly useful if you have specific requirements for extracting numeric values.

function extractNumbers($string) {
    $matches = [];
    preg_match_all("/\d+(\.\d+)?/", $string, $matches);
    return $matches[0];
}

$string = "The product IDs are P123, P456, and P789. Their prices are $12.99, $24.95, and $30.00.";
$numbers = extractNumbers($string);

print_r($numbers);

Array
(
    [0] => 123
    [1] => 456
    [2] => 789
    [3] => 12.99
    [4] => 24.95
    [5] => 30.00
)

In this example, the extractNumbers() function encapsulates the regular expression matching process. It returns an array of numeric values found in the input string.