Loop Through Index of pandas DataFrame in Python (Example)

In this tutorial, I’ll explain how to iterate over the row index of a pandas DataFrame in the Python programming language.

The tutorial consists of these content blocks:

Let’s do this.

Example Data & Software Libraries

First, we need to import the pandas library:

import pandas as pd                                # Import pandas

In addition, have a look at the following example data:

data = pd.DataFrame({'x1':['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'],    # Create pandas DataFrame
                     'x2':['w', 'x', 'y', 'z']})
print(data)                                        # Print pandas DataFrame

As you can see based on Table 1, our example data is a pandas DataFrame containing four rows and two columns. The row indices range from 0 to 3.

Example: Iterate Over Row Index of pandas DataFrame

In this example, I’ll show how to loop through the row indices of a pandas DataFrame in Python.

More precisely, we are using a for loop to print a sentence for each row that tells us the current index position and the values in the columns x1 and x2.

Consider the Python code below:

for i, row in data.iterrows():                     # Initialize for loop
    print('Index', i, '- Column x1:', row['x1'], '- Column x2:', row['x2'])
# Index 0 - Column x1: a - Column x2: w
# Index 1 - Column x1: b - Column x2: x
# Index 2 - Column x1: c - Column x2: y
# Index 3 - Column x1: d - Column x2: z

The previous output shows that we have created an output for each iteration over each index position in our pandas DataFrame.

Video, Further Resources & Summary

If you need further information on the topics of this article, you may want to have a look at the following video on my YouTube channel. In the video, I show the Python programming code of this article in a live programming session:

Furthermore, you may have a look at some related articles on my website.

• Basic Course for the pandas Library in Python
• Convert pandas DataFrame Index to List & NumPy Array in Python
• Sort Index of pandas DataFrame in Python
• Get Max & Min Value of Column & Index in pandas DataFrame in Python
• Rename Index of pandas DataFrame in Python
• Select Rows of pandas DataFrame by Index in Python
• Introduction to Python

To summarize: You have learned in this article how to loop through the index of a pandas DataFrame in the Python programming language. In case you have additional questions, don’t hesitate to tell me about it in the comments.