How to Remove the trailing Zeros from a Decimal in Python

# Remove the trailing zeros from a Decimal in Python

To remove trailing zeros from a decimal:

1. Use the decimal.to_integral() method to check if the number has a fractional part.
2. If it does, round the number and return it.
3. If it does not, use the decimal.normalize() method to strip any trailing zeros.

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from decimal import Decimal

num = Decimal('1.230000')


def remove_exponent(d):
    return (
        d.quantize(Decimal(1))
        if d == d.to_integral()
        else d.normalize()
    )


print(remove_exponent(num))  # 👉️ 1.23

The first function is taken from the Decimal FAQ section of the official docs.

The to_integral() method rounds to the nearest integer.

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from decimal import Decimal

# 👇️ True
print(Decimal('1.0000') == Decimal('1.0000').to_integral())

# 👇️ False
print(Decimal('1.9000') == Decimal('1.9000').to_integral())

print(Decimal('1.0000').to_integral()) # 👉️ 1

If the number has no decimal part, we use the quantize() method to round to a fixed number of decimal places.

If the number has a decimal part, we use the Decimal.normalize() method to strip the rightmost trailing zeros.

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from decimal import Decimal


print(Decimal('1.230000').normalize())  # 👉️ 1.23
print(Decimal('3.456000000').normalize()) # 👉️ 3.456

We only use the normalize() method if the number has a decimal part because it could remove zeros to the left of the decimal.

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from decimal import Decimal

print(Decimal('500.000').normalize())  # 👉️ 5E+2

print(Decimal('510.100').normalize()) # 👉️ 510.1

Alternatively, you can use the str.rstrip() method.

# Remove trailing zeros from decimal using str.rstrip()

This is a two-step process:

1. Use the str() class to convert the decimal to a string.
2. Use the str.rstrip() method to strip the trailing zeros if the number has a decimal point.

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from decimal import Decimal

num = Decimal('1.230000')

string = str(num)

without_trailing_zeros = string.rstrip(
    '0').rstrip('.') if '.' in string else string

result = Decimal(without_trailing_zeros)
print(result)  # 👉️ 1.23

The first step is to convert the decimal to a string.

The str.rstrip() method returns a copy of the string with the provided trailing characters removed.

The example also checks whether the string contains a dot, so we don't attempt to strip trailing zeros from numbers that don't have a decimal part, e.g. 5000 to 5.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• Remove the Decimal part from a Float in Python
• Remove the Max and Min numbers from a List in Python
• Remove special characters except Space from String in Python
• Remove square brackets from a List or a String in Python
• How to Remove the Tabs from a String in Python