What is the difference between MySQL numeric and decimal?

In MySQL, both NUMERIC and DECIMAL are data types used for storing exact numerical values. The main difference between them lies in the way they store precision.

1. NUMERIC is an alias used in MySQL, but internally it actually uses the DECIMAL data type. It is used to store numbers with fixed precision and decimal places. Both NUMERIC and DECIMAL can specify precision and decimal places, for example NUMERIC(10, 2) means a total of 10 digits, including 2 decimal places.
2. DECIMAL is a precise numerical type that stores values internally as strings. This allows DECIMAL to store very large numbers, but it may be slower in storage and calculations. On the other hand, NUMERIC stores values internally as integers, making it more efficient for storage and calculations.

In general, there is not much difference between NUMERIC and DECIMAL when storing numerical values; the choice of which data type to use depends on specific needs and usage scenarios.