How To Sort Output in Descending Order? - Oracle DBA FAQ - Understanding SQL SELECT Query Statements

If you want to sort a column in descending order, you can specify the DESC keyword in the ORDER BY clause. The following SELECT statement first sorts the department in descending order, then sorts the salary in ascending order:

SQL> SELECT department_id, first_name, last_name, salary 
  FROM employees ORDER BY department_id DESC, salary;
DEPARTMENT_ID FIRST_NAME      LAST_NAME           SALARY
------------- --------------- --------------- ----------
              Kimberely       Grant                 7000
          110 William         Gietz                 8300
          110 Shelley         Higgins              12000
          100 Luis            Popp                  6900
          100 Ismael          Sciarra               7700
          100 Jose Manuel     Urman                 7800
          100 John            Chen                  8200
          100 Daniel          Faviet                9000
......