---
title: count
framework: Swift
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Property
platforms: [iOS 8.0+, iPadOS 8.0+, Mac Catalyst 13.0+, macOS 10.10+, tvOS 9.0+, visionOS 1.0+, watchOS 2.0+]
path: swift/collection/count-4l4qk
---

# count

The number of elements in the collection.

## Declaration

```swift
var count: Int { get }
```

## Discussion

To check whether a collection is empty, use its `isEmpty` property instead of comparing `count` to zero. Unless the collection guarantees random-access performance, calculating `count` can be an O(*n*) operation.

> **note:** O(1) if the collection conforms to `RandomAccessCollection`; otherwise, O(*n*), where *n* is the length of the collection.