diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 932f3893d8bf..922d9cbdbc13 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@
 #### Core
 
 - Postgres TTL cleanup timer will now only run on traditional and control plane nodes that have enabled the Admin API.
+- Postgres TTL cleanup timer now runs a batch delete loop on each ttl enabled table with a number of 50.000 rows per batch.
 
 ## 3.2.0
 
diff --git a/kong/db/strategies/postgres/connector.lua b/kong/db/strategies/postgres/connector.lua
index cadfbe221712..a3daf9d43a95 100644
--- a/kong/db/strategies/postgres/connector.lua
+++ b/kong/db/strategies/postgres/connector.lua
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ local insert       = table.insert
 
 
 local WARN                          = ngx.WARN
-local ERR                           = ngx.ERR
+local DEBUG                         = ngx.DEBUG
 local SQL_INFORMATION_SCHEMA_TABLES = [[
 SELECT table_name
   FROM information_schema.tables
@@ -325,43 +325,52 @@ function _mt:init_worker(strategies)
       local table_name = table_names[i]
       local column_name = table_name == "cluster_events" and expire_at_escaped
                                                           or ttl_escaped
-      cleanup_statements[i] = concat {
-        "  DELETE FROM ",
-        self:escape_identifier(table_name),
-        " WHERE ",
-        column_name,
-        " < CURRENT_TIMESTAMP AT TIME ZONE 'UTC';"
-      }
+      local table_name_escaped = self:escape_identifier(table_name)
+
+      cleanup_statements[i] = fmt([[
+    WITH rows AS (
+  SELECT ctid
+    FROM %s
+   WHERE %s < CURRENT_TIMESTAMP AT TIME ZONE 'UTC'
+ORDER BY %s LIMIT 50000 FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED)
+  DELETE
+    FROM %s
+   WHERE ctid IN (TABLE rows);]], table_name_escaped, column_name, column_name, table_name_escaped):gsub("CURRENT_TIMESTAMP", "TO_TIMESTAMP(%%s)")
     end
 
-    local cleanup_statement = concat(cleanup_statements, "\n")
-
     return timer_every(60, function(premature)
       if premature then
         return
       end
 
-      local ok, err, _, num_queries = self:query(cleanup_statement)
-      if not ok then
-        if num_queries then
-          for i = num_queries + 1, cleanup_statements_count do
-            local statement = cleanup_statements[i]
-            local ok, err = self:query(statement)
-            if not ok then
-              if err then
-                log(WARN, "unable to clean expired rows from table '",
-                          table_names[i], "' on PostgreSQL database (",
-                          err, ")")
-              else
-                log(WARN, "unable to clean expired rows from table '",
-                          table_names[i], "' on PostgreSQL database")
-              end
+      for i, statement in ipairs(cleanup_statements) do
+        local cleanup_start_time = self:escape_literal(tonumber(fmt("%.3f", now_updated())))
+
+        while true do -- batch delete looping
+          -- avoid using CURRENT_TIMESTAMP in the real query to prevent infinite loop
+          local ok, err = self:query(fmt(statement, cleanup_start_time))
+          if not ok then
+            if err then
+              log(WARN, "unable to clean expired rows from table '",
+                        table_names[i], "' on PostgreSQL database (",
+                        err, ")")
+
+            else
+              log(WARN, "unable to clean expired rows from table '",
+                        table_names[i], "' on PostgreSQL database")
             end
+            break
           end
 
-        else
-          log(ERR, "unable to clean expired rows from PostgreSQL database (", err, ")")
+          if ok.affected_rows < 50000 then -- indicates that cleanup is done
+            break
+          end
         end
+
+        local cleanup_end_time = now_updated()
+        local time_elapsed = tonumber(fmt("%.3f", cleanup_end_time - cleanup_start_time))
+        log(DEBUG, "cleaning up expired rows from table '", table_names[i],
+                   "' took ", time_elapsed, " seconds")
       end
     end)
   end
diff --git a/spec/02-integration/03-db/20-ttl-cleanup_spec.lua b/spec/02-integration/03-db/20-ttl-cleanup_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..45b095cfd3ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/02-integration/03-db/20-ttl-cleanup_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+local helpers = require "spec.helpers"
+
+for _, strategy in helpers.each_strategy() do
+  local postgres_only = strategy == "postgres" and describe or pending
+  postgres_only("postgres ttl cleanup logic", function()
+    describe("ttl cleanup timer #postgres", function()
+      local bp, db, consumer1
+      lazy_setup(function()
+        bp, db = helpers.get_db_utils("postgres", {
+          "routes",
+          "services",
+          "plugins",
+          "consumers",
+          "keyauth_credentials"
+        })
+
+        consumer1 = bp.consumers:insert {
+          username = "conumer1"
+        }
+
+        assert(helpers.start_kong({
+          database = strategy,
+        }))
+      end)
+
+      lazy_teardown(function()
+        helpers.stop_kong()
+        db:truncate()
+      end)
+
+      it("init_worker should run ttl cleanup in background timer", function ()
+        helpers.clean_logfile()
+        local names_of_table_with_ttl = db.connector._get_topologically_sorted_table_names(db.strategies)
+        assert.truthy(#names_of_table_with_ttl > 0)
+        for _, name in ipairs(names_of_table_with_ttl) do
+          assert.errlog().has.line([[cleaning up expired rows from table ']] .. name .. [[' took \d+\.\d+ seconds]], false, 120)
+        end
+
+        local _ = bp.keyauth_credentials:insert({
+          key = "secret1",
+          consumer = { id = consumer1.id },
+        }, {ttl = 3})
+        helpers.clean_logfile()
+
+        helpers.wait_until(function()
+          return assert.errlog().has.line([[cleaning up expired rows from table ']] .. "keyauth_credentials" .. [[' took \d+\.\d+ seconds]], false, 120)
+        end, 120)
+
+        local ok, err = db.connector:query("SELECT * FROM keyauth_credentials")
+        assert.is_nil(err)
+        assert.same(0, #ok)
+      end)
+    end)
+  end)
+end