Basic example
Input
count_occurrences([1, 2, 1, 3, 1], 1)
Output
3
The value 1 appears three times in the list.
Full lesson preview
Count occurrences of a value in a list
Count how many times a given value appears in a list.
Python practice6 minLists & TuplesBeginnerLast updated March 17, 2026
Problem statement
Given a list and a target value, return the number of times the target occurs in the list. The list may contain elements of any type (ints, strings, None, etc.). The comparison should be the standard equality comparison (==).
Task
Write a function that returns the number of times a target value appears in a list.
Examples
Input format
A list (first argument) and a value to count (second argument).
Output format
An integer representing how many times the value appears in the list.
Constraints
The list length can be from 0 up to typical memory limits. Aim for O(n) time.
Samples
Sample 1
Input
count_occurrences(['a', 'b', 'a'], 'a')
Output
2
The string 'a' appears twice.