Pie charts are fun to look at but they are often misused, this week we are looking at when to use a pie chart and when not to.

A pie chart shows us how a part is relative to the whole. When you hear “percent of…” or “part of…” that’s one indication a pie chart could meet your needs.

There are two primary use cases for a pie chart:

• If you want your audience to have a general sense of the part-to-whole relationship in your data and comparing the precise sizes of the slices is less important.
• To convey that one segment of the total is relatively small or large.

Here are some examples when you should choose a different chart.

In a pie chart it is difficult to determine if C or D is large but a bar chart the difference is more pronounced.

To read more about pie charts on Story Telling With Data.

• Where are instances where you have seen a pie chart that didn’t make sense?
• What would you have used instead?
• Have you used a pie chart when another chart would have been better? If you have please share your experience and what you learned.

Story Telling With Data is a great resource to discover different charting options and how to convey a story!