diff --git a/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt b/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt
index ccdc2911bb..0713e49b49 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt
@@ -222,6 +222,11 @@ worktreepath::
 	out, if it is checked out in any linked worktree. Empty string
 	otherwise.
 
+ahead-behind:<committish>::
+	Two integers, separated by a space, demonstrating the number of
+	commits ahead and behind, respectively, when comparing the output
+	ref to the `<committish>` specified in the format.
+
 In addition to the above, for commit and tag objects, the header
 field names (`tree`, `parent`, `object`, `type`, and `tag`) can
 be used to specify the value in the header field.
diff --git a/builtin/branch.c b/builtin/branch.c
index f63fd45edb..0554d7cebb 100644
--- a/builtin/branch.c
+++ b/builtin/branch.c
@@ -448,6 +448,7 @@ static void print_ref_list(struct ref_filter *filter, struct ref_sorting *sortin
 	if (verify_ref_format(format))
 		die(_("unable to parse format string"));
 
+	filter_ahead_behind(the_repository, format, &array);
 	ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
diff --git a/builtin/for-each-ref.c b/builtin/for-each-ref.c
index 9df16cfb85..6b3d07ef40 100644
--- a/builtin/for-each-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/for-each-ref.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "parse-options.h"
 #include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "strvec.h"
+#include "commit-reach.h"
 
 static char const * const for_each_ref_usage[] = {
 	N_("git for-each-ref [<options>] [<pattern>]"),
@@ -98,6 +99,8 @@ int cmd_for_each_ref(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	filter.match_as_path = 1;
 	filter_refs(&array, &filter, FILTER_REFS_ALL);
+	filter_ahead_behind(the_repository, &format, &array);
+
 	ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
 
 	if (!maxcount || array.nr < maxcount)
diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index d428c45dc8..1b3f49d7b4 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ static int list_tags(struct ref_filter *filter, struct ref_sorting *sorting,
 		die(_("unable to parse format string"));
 	filter->with_commit_tag_algo = 1;
 	filter_refs(&array, filter, FILTER_REFS_TAGS);
+	filter_ahead_behind(the_repository, format, &array);
 	ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index f8203c6b05..62135f649e 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ enum atom_type {
 	ATOM_THEN,
 	ATOM_ELSE,
 	ATOM_REST,
+	ATOM_AHEADBEHIND,
 };
 
 /*
@@ -586,6 +587,22 @@ static int rest_atom_parser(struct ref_format *format, struct used_atom *atom,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int ahead_behind_atom_parser(struct ref_format *format, struct used_atom *atom,
+				    const char *arg, struct strbuf *err)
+{
+	struct string_list_item *item;
+
+	if (!arg)
+		return strbuf_addf_ret(err, -1, _("expected format: %%(ahead-behind:<committish>)"));
+
+	item = string_list_append(&format->bases, arg);
+	item->util = lookup_commit_reference_by_name(arg);
+	if (!item->util)
+		die("failed to find '%s'", arg);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int head_atom_parser(struct ref_format *format, struct used_atom *atom,
 			    const char *arg, struct strbuf *err)
 {
@@ -645,6 +662,7 @@ static struct {
 	[ATOM_THEN] = { "then", SOURCE_NONE },
 	[ATOM_ELSE] = { "else", SOURCE_NONE },
 	[ATOM_REST] = { "rest", SOURCE_NONE, FIELD_STR, rest_atom_parser },
+	[ATOM_AHEADBEHIND] = { "ahead-behind", SOURCE_OTHER, FIELD_STR, ahead_behind_atom_parser },
 	/*
 	 * Please update $__git_ref_fieldlist in git-completion.bash
 	 * when you add new atoms
@@ -1848,6 +1866,7 @@ static int populate_value(struct ref_array_item *ref, struct strbuf *err)
 	struct object *obj;
 	int i;
 	struct object_info empty = OBJECT_INFO_INIT;
+	int ahead_behind_atoms = 0;
 
 	CALLOC_ARRAY(ref->value, used_atom_cnt);
 
@@ -1978,6 +1997,16 @@ static int populate_value(struct ref_array_item *ref, struct strbuf *err)
 			else
 				v->s = xstrdup("");
 			continue;
+		} else if (atom_type == ATOM_AHEADBEHIND) {
+			if (ref->counts) {
+				const struct ahead_behind_count *count;
+				count = ref->counts[ahead_behind_atoms++];
+				v->s = xstrfmt("%d %d", count->ahead, count->behind);
+			} else {
+				/* Not a commit. */
+				v->s = xstrdup("");
+			}
+			continue;
 		} else
 			continue;
 
@@ -2328,6 +2357,7 @@ static void free_array_item(struct ref_array_item *item)
 			free((char *)item->value[i].s);
 		free(item->value);
 	}
+	free(item->counts);
 	free(item);
 }
 
@@ -2356,6 +2386,8 @@ void ref_array_clear(struct ref_array *array)
 		free_worktrees(ref_to_worktree_map.worktrees);
 		ref_to_worktree_map.worktrees = NULL;
 	}
+
+	FREE_AND_NULL(array->counts);
 }
 
 #define EXCLUDE_REACHED 0
@@ -2418,6 +2450,47 @@ static void reach_filter(struct ref_array *array,
 	free(to_clear);
 }
 
+void filter_ahead_behind(struct repository *r,
+			 struct ref_format *format,
+			 struct ref_array *array)
+{
+	struct commit **commits;
+	size_t commits_nr = format->bases.nr + array->nr;
+
+	if (!format->bases.nr || !array->nr)
+		return;
+
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(commits, commits_nr);
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < format->bases.nr; i++)
+		commits[i] = format->bases.items[i].util;
+
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(array->counts, st_mult(format->bases.nr, array->nr));
+
+	commits_nr = format->bases.nr;
+	array->counts_nr = 0;
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < array->nr; i++) {
+		const char *name = array->items[i]->refname;
+		commits[commits_nr] = lookup_commit_reference_by_name(name);
+
+		if (!commits[commits_nr])
+			continue;
+
+		CALLOC_ARRAY(array->items[i]->counts, format->bases.nr);
+		for (size_t j = 0; j < format->bases.nr; j++) {
+			struct ahead_behind_count *count;
+			count = &array->counts[array->counts_nr++];
+			count->tip_index = commits_nr;
+			count->base_index = j;
+
+			array->items[i]->counts[j] = count;
+		}
+		commits_nr++;
+	}
+
+	ahead_behind(r, commits, commits_nr, array->counts, array->counts_nr);
+	free(commits);
+}
+
 /*
  * API for filtering a set of refs. Based on the type of refs the user
  * has requested, we iterate through those refs and apply filters
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index aa0eea4ecf..c9a1149517 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "refs.h"
 #include "commit.h"
 #include "parse-options.h"
+#include "string-list.h"
 
 /* Quoting styles */
 #define QUOTE_NONE 0
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
 
 struct atom_value;
 struct ref_sorting;
+struct ahead_behind_count;
 
 enum ref_sorting_order {
 	REF_SORTING_REVERSE = 1<<0,
@@ -40,6 +42,8 @@ struct ref_array_item {
 	const char *symref;
 	struct commit *commit;
 	struct atom_value *value;
+	struct ahead_behind_count **counts;
+
 	char refname[FLEX_ARRAY];
 };
 
@@ -47,6 +51,9 @@ struct ref_array {
 	int nr, alloc;
 	struct ref_array_item **items;
 	struct rev_info *revs;
+
+	struct ahead_behind_count *counts;
+	size_t counts_nr;
 };
 
 struct ref_filter {
@@ -80,9 +87,15 @@ struct ref_format {
 
 	/* Internal state to ref-filter */
 	int need_color_reset_at_eol;
+
+	/* List of bases for ahead-behind counts. */
+	struct string_list bases;
 };
 
-#define REF_FORMAT_INIT { .use_color = -1 }
+#define REF_FORMAT_INIT {             \
+	.use_color = -1,              \
+	.bases = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP, \
+}
 
 /*  Macros for checking --merged and --no-merged options */
 #define _OPT_MERGED_NO_MERGED(option, filter, h) \
@@ -143,4 +156,15 @@ struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
 				      const char *refname,
 				      const struct object_id *oid);
 
+/*
+ * If the provided format includes ahead-behind atoms, then compute the
+ * ahead-behind values for the array of filtered references. Must be
+ * called after filter_refs() but before outputting the formatted refs.
+ *
+ * If this is not called, then any ahead-behind atoms will be blank.
+ */
+void filter_ahead_behind(struct repository *r,
+			 struct ref_format *format,
+			 struct ref_array *array);
+
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */
diff --git a/t/perf/p1500-graph-walks.sh b/t/perf/p1500-graph-walks.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..439a448c2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/perf/p1500-graph-walks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='Commit walk performance tests'
+. ./perf-lib.sh
+
+test_perf_large_repo
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+	git for-each-ref --format="%(refname)" "refs/heads/*" "refs/tags/*" >allrefs &&
+	sort -r allrefs | head -n 50 >refs &&
+	for ref in $(cat refs)
+	do
+		git branch -f ref-$ref $ref &&
+		echo ref-$ref ||
+		return 1
+	done >branches &&
+	for ref in $(cat refs)
+	do
+		git tag -f tag-$ref $ref &&
+		echo tag-$ref ||
+		return 1
+	done >tags &&
+	git commit-graph write --reachable
+'
+
+test_perf 'ahead-behind counts: git for-each-ref' '
+	git for-each-ref --format="%(ahead-behind:HEAD)" --stdin <refs
+'
+
+test_perf 'ahead-behind counts: git branch' '
+	xargs git branch -l --format="%(ahead-behind:HEAD)" <branches
+'
+
+test_perf 'ahead-behind counts: git tag' '
+	xargs git tag -l --format="%(ahead-behind:HEAD)" <tags
+'
+
+test_perf 'ahead-behind counts: git rev-list' '
+	for r in $(cat refs)
+	do
+		git rev-list --count "HEAD..$r" || return 1
+	done
+'
+
+test_done
diff --git a/t/t3203-branch-output.sh b/t/t3203-branch-output.sh
index d34d77f893..1c0f7ea24e 100755
--- a/t/t3203-branch-output.sh
+++ b/t/t3203-branch-output.sh
@@ -337,6 +337,20 @@ test_expect_success 'git branch --format option' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'git branch --format with ahead-behind' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	(HEAD detached from fromtag) 0 0
+	refs/heads/ambiguous 0 0
+	refs/heads/branch-one 1 0
+	refs/heads/branch-two 0 0
+	refs/heads/main 1 0
+	refs/heads/ref-to-branch 1 0
+	refs/heads/ref-to-remote 1 0
+	EOF
+	git branch --format="%(refname) %(ahead-behind:HEAD)" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'git branch with --format=%(rest) must fail' '
 	test_must_fail git branch --format="%(rest)" >actual
 '
diff --git a/t/t6301-for-each-ref-errors.sh b/t/t6301-for-each-ref-errors.sh
index bfda1f46ad..2667dd13fe 100755
--- a/t/t6301-for-each-ref-errors.sh
+++ b/t/t6301-for-each-ref-errors.sh
@@ -54,4 +54,18 @@ test_expect_success 'Missing objects are reported correctly' '
 	test_must_be_empty brief-err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ahead-behind requires an argument' '
+	test_must_fail git for-each-ref \
+		--format="%(ahead-behind)" 2>err &&
+	echo "fatal: expected format: %(ahead-behind:<committish>)" >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'missing ahead-behind base' '
+	test_must_fail git for-each-ref \
+		--format="%(ahead-behind:refs/heads/missing)" 2>err &&
+	echo "fatal: failed to find '\''refs/heads/missing'\''" >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t6600-test-reach.sh b/t/t6600-test-reach.sh
index 338a9c46a2..0cb50797ef 100755
--- a/t/t6600-test-reach.sh
+++ b/t/t6600-test-reach.sh
@@ -443,4 +443,90 @@ test_expect_success 'get_reachable_subset:none' '
 	test_all_modes get_reachable_subset
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'for-each-ref ahead-behind:linear' '
+	cat >input <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1
+	refs/heads/commit-1-3
+	refs/heads/commit-1-5
+	refs/heads/commit-1-8
+	EOF
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1 0 8
+	refs/heads/commit-1-3 0 6
+	refs/heads/commit-1-5 0 4
+	refs/heads/commit-1-8 0 1
+	EOF
+	run_all_modes git for-each-ref \
+		--format="%(refname) %(ahead-behind:commit-1-9)" --stdin
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'for-each-ref ahead-behind:all' '
+	cat >input <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1
+	refs/heads/commit-2-4
+	refs/heads/commit-4-2
+	refs/heads/commit-4-4
+	EOF
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1 0 24
+	refs/heads/commit-2-4 0 17
+	refs/heads/commit-4-2 0 17
+	refs/heads/commit-4-4 0 9
+	EOF
+	run_all_modes git for-each-ref \
+		--format="%(refname) %(ahead-behind:commit-5-5)" --stdin
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'for-each-ref ahead-behind:some' '
+	cat >input <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1
+	refs/heads/commit-5-3
+	refs/heads/commit-4-8
+	refs/heads/commit-9-9
+	EOF
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1 0 53
+	refs/heads/commit-4-8 8 30
+	refs/heads/commit-5-3 0 39
+	refs/heads/commit-9-9 27 0
+	EOF
+	run_all_modes git for-each-ref \
+		--format="%(refname) %(ahead-behind:commit-9-6)" --stdin
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'for-each-ref ahead-behind:some, multibase' '
+	cat >input <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1
+	refs/heads/commit-5-3
+	refs/heads/commit-7-8
+	refs/heads/commit-4-8
+	refs/heads/commit-9-9
+	EOF
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-1-1 0 53 0 53
+	refs/heads/commit-4-8 8 30 0 22
+	refs/heads/commit-5-3 0 39 0 39
+	refs/heads/commit-7-8 14 12 8 6
+	refs/heads/commit-9-9 27 0 27 0
+	EOF
+	run_all_modes git for-each-ref \
+		--format="%(refname) %(ahead-behind:commit-9-6) %(ahead-behind:commit-6-9)" \
+		--stdin
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'for-each-ref ahead-behind:none' '
+	cat >input <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-7-5
+	refs/heads/commit-4-8
+	refs/heads/commit-9-9
+	EOF
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	refs/heads/commit-4-8 16 16
+	refs/heads/commit-7-5 7 4
+	refs/heads/commit-9-9 49 0
+	EOF
+	run_all_modes git for-each-ref \
+		--format="%(refname) %(ahead-behind:commit-8-4)" --stdin
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t7004-tag.sh b/t/t7004-tag.sh
index 9aa1660651..04a4b44183 100755
--- a/t/t7004-tag.sh
+++ b/t/t7004-tag.sh
@@ -792,6 +792,34 @@ test_expect_success 'annotations for blobs are empty' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+# Run this before doing any signing, so the test has the same results
+# regardless of the GPG prereq.
+test_expect_success 'git tag --format with ahead-behind' '
+	test_when_finished git reset --hard tag-one-line &&
+	git commit --allow-empty -m "left" &&
+	git tag -a -m left tag-left &&
+	git reset --hard HEAD~1 &&
+	git commit --allow-empty -m "right" &&
+	git tag -a -m left tag-right &&
+
+	# Use " !" at the end to demonstrate whitespace
+	# around empty ahead-behind token for tag-blob.
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	refs/tags/tag-blob  !
+	refs/tags/tag-left 1 1 !
+	refs/tags/tag-lines 0 1 !
+	refs/tags/tag-one-line 0 1 !
+	refs/tags/tag-right 0 0 !
+	refs/tags/tag-zero-lines 0 1 !
+	EOF
+	git tag -l --format="%(refname) %(ahead-behind:HEAD) !" >actual 2>err &&
+	grep "refs/tags/tag" actual >actual.focus &&
+	test_cmp expect actual.focus &&
+
+	# Error reported for tags that point to non-commits.
+	grep "error: object [0-9a-f]* is a blob, not a commit" err
+'
+
 # trying to verify annotated non-signed tags:
 
 test_expect_success GPG \