FORMAT() Function in SQL Server

The FORMAT() function is one of the String Functions, which is used to format the specified value in the given format. 

Syntax :

FORMAT(value, format, culture)  

Parameter:

This method accepts three parameters as mentioned above and described below: 

• Value: It is the value to do formatting. It should be in support of the data type format. 
• Format: It is the required format in which we require the output.
• Culture: It is an optional parameter. By default, SQL Server uses the current session language for a default culture. We can provide a specific culture here, but the .Net framework should support it. We get an error message in case of invalid Culture

Returns: It returns a value formatted with the specified format and optional culture. 

Now if we want to Format a Number. then we use the below query:
Query:

SELECT FORMAT(25, 'N')

Output :

Take another example of PERCENTAGE format. 
Query:

SELECT FORMAT(1, 'P', 'en-US')AS [PERCENTAGE IN US FORMAT], 
    FORMAT(1, 'P', 'en-IN') AS [PERCENTAGE IN INDIA FORMAT];

Output :

Example of DATE format. 
Query:

DECLARE @d DATETIME = GETDATE();  
SELECT FORMAT( @d, 'dd/MM/yyyy', 'en-US' ) AS 'DateTime Result'

Output :

In this example, we will format the current time with AM or PM. 
Query:

SELECT FORMAT(SYSDATETIME(), N'hh:mm tt');

Output :

In this example, we change the CURRENCY format. 
Query:

SELECT 
    FORMAT(1, 'C', 'in-IN') AS 'INDIA', 
    FORMAT(1, 'C', 'ch-CH') AS 'CHINA', 
    FORMAT(1, 'C', 'sw-SW') AS 'SWITZERLAND', 
    FORMAT(1, 'C', 'us-US') AS 'USA';

Output :