Cardinality estimation in databases

A server applied to a database management system and a method are provided. By calculating a data skew for a column based on an entropy for the column in a database, storing the data skew to a catalogue in the database, estimating a selectivity for the column by multiplying a first selectivity with the data skew, cardinality estimation in the database management system is improved. By calculating a degree of correlation for two columns in a database, storing the degree of correlation to a catalogue in the database, estimating a selectivity taking into account the degree of correlation, cardinality estimation in the database management system is improved. The improved cardinality estimates in turn improve the query plan generated by the optimizer which leads to better query performance.