diff --git a/DIFF.md b/DIFF.md
index 23ea6258..81162581 100644
--- a/DIFF.md
+++ b/DIFF.md
@@ -458,6 +458,7 @@ Input and output
   --ignore <name>          ignore column name
   --save-mode <save-mode>  save mode for writing output (Append, Overwrite, ErrorIfExists, Ignore, default ErrorIfExists)
   --filter <filter>        Filters for rows with these diff actions, with default diffing options use 'N', 'I', 'D', or 'C' (see 'Diffing options' section)
+  --statistics             Only output statistics on how many rows exist per diff action (see 'Diffing options' section)
 
 Diffing options
   --diff-column <name>     column name for diff column (default 'diff')
diff --git a/src/main/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/App.scala b/src/main/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/App.scala
index bf5fc0f3..2f5749ee 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/App.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/App.scala
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ object App {
                      ignore: Seq[String] = Seq.empty,
                      saveMode: SaveMode = SaveMode.ErrorIfExists,
                      filter: Set[String] = Set.empty,
+                     statistics: Boolean = false,
                      diffOptions: DiffOptions = DiffOptions.default)
 
   // read options from args
@@ -179,6 +180,10 @@ object App {
       .valueName("<filter>")
       .action((x, c) => c.copy(filter = c.filter + x))
       .text(s"Filters for rows with these diff actions, with default diffing options use 'N', 'I', 'D', or 'C' (see 'Diffing options' section)")
+    opt[Unit]("statistics")
+      .optional()
+      .action((_, c) => c.copy(statistics = true))
+      .text(s"Only output statistics on how many rows exist per diff action (see 'Diffing options' section)")
 
     note("")
     note("Diffing options")
@@ -244,8 +249,9 @@ object App {
       .when(schema.isDefined).call(_.schema(schema.get))
       .when(format.isDefined).either(_.load(path)).or(_.table(path))
 
-  def write(df: DataFrame, format: Option[String], path: String, options: Map[String, String], saveMode: SaveMode, filter: Set[String], diffOptions: DiffOptions): Unit =
+  def write(df: DataFrame, format: Option[String], path: String, options: Map[String, String], saveMode: SaveMode, filter: Set[String], saveStats: Boolean, diffOptions: DiffOptions): Unit =
     df.when(filter.nonEmpty).call(_.where(col(diffOptions.diffColumn).isInCollection(filter)))
+      .when(saveStats).call(_.groupBy(diffOptions.diffColumn).count)
       .write
       .when(format.isDefined).call(_.format(format.get))
       .options(options)
@@ -270,6 +276,6 @@ object App {
     val left = read(spark, options.leftFormat, options.leftPath.get, options.leftSchema, options.leftOptions)
     val right = read(spark, options.rightFormat, options.rightPath.get, options.rightSchema, options.rightOptions)
     val diff = left.diff(right, options.diffOptions, options.ids, options.ignore)
-    write(diff, options.outputFormat, options.outputPath.get, options.outputOptions, options.saveMode, options.filter, options.diffOptions)
+    write(diff, options.outputFormat, options.outputPath.get, options.outputOptions, options.saveMode, options.filter, options.statistics, options.diffOptions)
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/AppSuite.scala b/src/test/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/AppSuite.scala
index 5be0dd3d..6a0f52d9 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/AppSuite.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/uk/co/gresearch/spark/diff/AppSuite.scala
@@ -83,4 +83,32 @@ class AppSuite extends AnyFunSuite with SparkTestSession {
       }
     }
   }
+
+  test("run app writing stats") {
+    withTempPath { path =>
+      // write left dataframe as parquet
+      val leftPath = new File(path, "left.parquet").getAbsolutePath
+      DiffSuite.left(spark).write.parquet(leftPath)
+
+      // write right dataframe as csv
+      val rightPath = new File(path, "right.parquet").getAbsolutePath
+      DiffSuite.right(spark).write.parquet(rightPath)
+
+      // launch app
+      val outputPath = new File(path, "diff.parquet").getAbsolutePath
+      App.main(Array(
+        "--format", "parquet",
+        "--statistics",
+        "--id", "id",
+        leftPath,
+        rightPath,
+        outputPath
+      ))
+
+      // assert written diff
+      val actual = spark.read.parquet(outputPath).as[(String, Long)].collect().toMap
+      val expected = DiffSuite.expectedDiff.groupBy(row => row.getString(0)).view.mapValues(_.length).toMap
+      assert(actual === expected)
+    }
+  }
 }