use Statistics::Frequency; my $string = '1,3,5,7,9,1,3,4,5,6,2,1,5,6,7,9'; my %count = Statistics::Frequency::->new(split /,/, $string)->frequencies; print "$_: $count{$_}\n" for sort keys %count; __END__ 1: 3 2: 1 3: 2 4: 1 5: 3 6: 2 7: 2 9: 2