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Pie chart

A pie chart shows how a total splits up: each slice is one part. It works with a few parts that add up to 100%.

Select any words here to ask your Maestro about them.

In the pie, without any numbers: how many points do you think separate cash from credit card?

How a store's customers paid in one month, out of every 100 payments. Example data.

What it's for: showing what share of a total each thing is, when there are few parts and one stands out: "almost half pay in cash". It's also called a circle chart.

When not to: when there are many parts or they're close in size, as in the figure. The eye compares angles worse than lengths, so a sorted bar chart reads faster. It also doesn't work if the parts don't add up to 100%, or for showing change over time.

To get each slice, work out each part's percentage of the total. In Excel: select your data, then Insert › Pie Chart.

Practice it in When to use a pie chart (and when not to).

How it's used

Before you use a pie

Check these before you insert it

  1. marked: The parts add up to 100% and come from one total.
  2. Few slices: 2 to 5. If there are more, group the small ones into Other or use bars.
  3. The biggest starts at 12 o'clock and the rest go clockwise, largest to smallest.
  4. Write the percentage on each slice.The eye misjudges angles; the number doesn't.
  5. No 3D: tilted, the front slice looks bigger than it is.
A pie works for saying "this part is almost half". To compare parts that are close, use bars.

When to look closer

When the parts don't add up to 100%

Which apps do you use? (pick all that apply)

  1. WhatsApp: 92%
  2. Facebook: 71%
  3. Instagram: 48%
  4. TikTok: 39%

Do these four percentages fit in a pie chart?

Ask your Maestro about Pie chart

It answers from the free course page closest to this word, the way it answers while you study.

Example

You: What does "Pie chart" mean, in plain words?

Your Maestro: I'll explain it with a case of yours: it sticks better than a definition. Which pie chart in your reports would read better as bars?

Asking about: Answers from the page "When to use a pie chart (and when not to)"

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Related terms

  • Bar chart

    A bar chart compares amounts across categories: each bar is a category and its length is the number. Use it to see which branch sold the most.

  • Percentage

    A percentage says how many parts out of every 100 something is. You get it by dividing the part by the total and multiplying by 100: 45 out of 180 customers is 45 ÷ 180 × 100 = 25%.

  • Histogram

    A histogram shows how the values in a column of numbers are spread out: it cuts them into ranges of equal width and draws one bar per range, as tall as the number of values that fall in it.

The whole glossary