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Asked: 2026-06-18T07:47:53+00:00

I have a problem. Say I have a vector x: x : [1] 2

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I have a problem. Say I have a vector x:

x:

 [1] "2 416" "143"   "280"   "2 503" "144"   "128"   "55"    "697"   "826"   "9"     "35"    "9 257" "234"   "2 044" NA      "219"  
[17] NA      NA      "219"   "7 431" "82"    "88"    "186"   "231"   "192"   "456"   "585"   "75"    "142"   NA      NA      NA     
[33] "72"    "246"   "900"   "143"   "231"   "195"   "282"   "226"   "967"   "247"   "2 252" "694"   "64"    "7 744" "204"   "428"  
[49] "19"    "94"    "174"   "292"   "94"    "172"   "221"   "123"   "404"   "385"   "324"   "346"   "658"   "53"    "377"   "119"  
[65] NA      "51"    "391"   "1 072" "387"   "1 742" "518"   "173"   "366"   "67"    "163"   "1 151" "382"   "864"   "184"   "172"  
[81] NA      "538"   "39"    "2 272" "334"   "464"   "82"    "112" 

class(x) 
"character"

I imported this vector from Excel

x=read.csv(file="C:/Users/Documents/x.csv",header=TRUE,sep=";",na.strings=c("NA",""),
dec = ",",stringsAsFactors=FALSE,blank.lines.skip = F)

No when I try to convert x to numeric, this happens:

as.numeric(x)

 [1]  NA 143 280  NA 144 128  55 697 826   9  35  NA 234  NA  NA 219  NA  NA 219  NA  82  88 186 231 192 456 585  75 142  NA  NA  NA  72
[34] 246 900 143 231 195 282 226 967 247  NA 694  64  NA 204 428  19  94 174 292  94 172 221 123 404 385 324 346 658  53 377 119  NA  51
[67] 391  NA 387  NA 518 173 366  67 163  NA 382 864 184 172  NA 538  39  NA 334 464  82 112
Warning message:
NAs introduced by coercion

So some numbers, i.e. “2 416” is converted to NA, while I want the number to be converted to 2 416. I want R to interpret "2 416" as a numeric value 2416What am I doing wrong?

Best Regards

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    You have to replace the spaces with empty strings before doing the conversion:

    x <- c("2 416", "143", "280", "2 503")

    Immediate conversion fails, because “2 416” isn’t a number:

    as.numeric(x)
[1]  NA 143 280  NA
Warning message:
NAs introduced by coercion

    Use gsub() to replace spaces with empty strings, then convert:

    as.numeric(gsub(" ", "", x))
[1] 2416  143  280 2503
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