The invention relates to a computer-implemented method for processing a query in a database, the query comprising a search value. The database comprises a plurality of datasets the datasets comprising entries, wherein distance statistics are assigned to the datasets. The distance statistics describe the minimum and maximum distance between the values of the entries of a dataset of the plurality of datasets and a reference value. The method comprises determining the distance between the search value and the reference value, said determination resulting in a search distance, determining a subset of datasets from the plurality of datasets for which the search distance is within the limits given by the minimum and maximum distances described by the respective distance statistics, and searching for the search value in the subset of datasets.