1. A database system comprising: a storage device configured to store a plurality of database tables; a processor in communication with the storage device, the processor configured to: determine a first sampling percentage value of a column of a database table from the plurality of database tables based on a respective frequency of each column value in the column, wherein the first sampling percentage value is a first percentage of the column; determine a second sampling percentage value of the column based on size of the database table, wherein the second sampling percentage value is a second percentage of the column; compare the first sampling percentage value to the second sampling percentage value; and in response to the comparison, select one of the first sampling percentage value and the second sampling percentage value, wherein the selected sampling percentage value is a percentage of the column to be used to collect statistics on the column, and wherein collected statistics based on the selected sampling percentage value are used to generate at least one database query response plan associated with the column.