data presentation on pie chart

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Pie chart is a popular and visually intuitive tool used in data representation, making complex information easier to understand at a glance. This circular graph divides data into slices, each representing a proportion of the whole, allowing for a clear comparison of different categories making it easier to digest complex information through a straightforward, intuitive format. They look like a pie cut into slices, and each slice shows a piece of information.

Pie charts are ideal for displaying percentage data or showing how individual parts contribute to a total. In this article, we’ll explore the basics of pie charts, their uses, and how to create and interpret them effectively.

For example, if you want to see how much money you spend on different things like food, rent, and entertainment, a pie chart can show you this in an easy-to-understand way.

What is a Pie Chart?

A pie chart is a pictorial or graphical representation of data in chart format. A pie chart uses a circle or sphere to represent the data, where the circle represents the entire data, and the slices represent the data in parts.

A pie chart is one of the easiest ways to present and understand the given data, and pie charts are used very commonly. For example, pie charts are used in Excel very often. There are different ways of data representation . A pie chart is one of the types of charts in which the data is represented in a circular shape. The pie chart circle is further divided into multiple sectors/slices; those sectors show the different parts of the data from the whole.

Pie charts, also known as circle graphs or pie diagrams, are very useful in representing and interpreting data. The data can be compared easily with the help of a pie chart. Below is an example of a pie chart explained in detail.

Table of Content

Types of Pie Chart

Pie chart examples, pie chart formula, how to create a pie chart, how to read pie chart, pie chart vs bar graph, advantages and disadvantages of using pie chart, uses of pie chart, solved practice problems on pie chart, pie charts questions for practice.

There are various variation or types of pie chart, some of the common types include:

• 3D Pie Chart: A 3D pie chart adds depth to the traditional two-dimensional pie chart by rendering it in three dimensions.
• Doughnut Chart: A doughnut chart is similar to a pie chart but with a hole in the center.
• Exploded Pie Chart: In an exploded pie chart, one or more slices are separated from the rest of the pie to emphasize their importance or to make them stand out.
• Nested Pie Chart: Also known as a multi-level pie chart or hierarchical pie chart, this type of chart consists of multiple rings of pie charts, with each ring representing a different level of data hierarchy.
• Ring Chart: A ring chart is similar to a doughnut chart but consists of multiple rings instead of just one. Each ring represents a different category of data, with the size of each segment within the ring corresponding to its proportion of the whole.

Also Check : Pie Chart in MATLAB

In a class of 200 students, a survey was done to collect each student’s favorite sports. The pie chart of the data is given below:

Since the pie chart is provided and the total number of students is given, we can easily take the original data out for each sport. 

• Cricket = 17/100 × 200 = 34 students
• Football = 25/100 × 200 = 50 students
• Badminton = 12/100 × 200 = 24 students
• Hockey = 5/100 × 200 = 10 students
• Other = 41/100 × 200 = 82 students

The original data for the pie chart shown above is given below:

The total value or percentage of the pie is 100% always. Here it contains different sectors and segments in which each sector or segment of the chart corresponds to a certain portion of the net or total percentage (or data). The total or sum of all the data can be summed up to 360 degrees.

• Converting the data into degrees on a pie chart. The formula for a pie chart can be summed up as:

(Given Data / Total Value of Data) × 360°

• Calculating the percentage of each sector from degrees in a pie chart.

To work out with degrees in a pie chart, we need to follow the following steps:

• First, we need to measure every slice of the chart.
• Then we need to divide it by 360°.
• Finally, multiply the obtained result by 100.

The pie chart formula is given below:

(Frequency)/(Total Frequency) × 100

Calculating Number of Sectors on a Pie Chart

To calculate the total number of slices or sectors on a pie chart, we need to multiply the sector’s percentage by the total value of the data and finally divide the result by 100.

We will learn how to create a pie chart step by step with the help of an example. A teacher surveyed a group of students to see what their favorite hobby of each student is. Let’s take a look at the pie chart example with an explanation. The data collected is listed as follows:

Now we will see how to construct a pie chart step by step.

Step 1: The first step requires us to write down the available data in tabular form as follows:

Step 2: Now find the sum of all the given data. Here, the Sum of All Data = (16 + 20 + 10 + 30 + 24) = 100

Step 3: Now, calculate the percentage of each sector. We need to divide each sector value by the sum or total and then multiply it by 100.

Step 4: Next step is to calculate the degrees corresponding to each slice of the Pie Chart. The values can be calculated as:

Central Angle of Each Component = (Given Data / Total Value of Data) × 360

Hence, The values are as follows:

Step 5: Now, with the help of a protractor, we will measure each angle from a single point or central point and draw the circle’s sectors. The resultant pie chart will be:

In order to read a pie chart, the first thing to notice is the data presented in the pie chart. If the data is given in percentage, it should be converted accordingly in order to analyze and interpret the data. Let’s take a look at an example in order to learn how to interpret pie charts.

Example: In a survey done among 300 people, it was observed which type of genre each person prefers. The pie chart of the same is mentioned below. Analyze and interpret the pie chart accordingly to find the original data.

While observing the pie chart, it came to notice that the data is present in percentage. Let’s convert the data to obtain the original value. Number of people who like comedy = 20/100 × 300 = 60 people. Number of people who like action = 25/100 × 300 = 75 people. Number of people who like romance = 30/100 × 300 = 90 people. Number of people who like drama = 5/100 × 300 = 15 people. Number of people who like sci-fi = 20/100 × 300 = 60 people.

The key difference between pie chart and bar graph are listed in the following table:

Pie Chart is very useful for finding and representing data.

Various advantages of the pie chart are,

• Pie chart is easily understood and comprehended.
• Visual representation of data in a pie chart is done as a fractional part of a whole.
• Pie chart provides an effective mode of communication to all types of audiences.
• Pie chart provides a better comparison of data for the audience.

Disadvantages of using pie charts :

• In the case of too much data, this presentation becomes less effective using a pie chart.
• For multiple data sets, we need a series to compare them.
• For analyzing and Assimilating the data in a pie chart, it is difficult for readers to comprehend.

Whenever a fraction or fractions are represented as a part of the whole, pie charts are used. Pie charts are used to compare the data and to analyze which data is bigger or smaller. Hence, while dealing with discrete data, pie charts are preferred. Let’s take a look at the uses of the pie chart:

• Pie charts are used to compare the profit and loss in businesses.
• In schools, the grades can be easily compared using a pie chart.
• The relative sizes of data can be compared using a pie chart.
• The marketing and sales data can be compared using a pie chart.

Measurement of Angles Bar Graph and Histogram

Example 1: The given pie chart shows the subject of interest of each student in a class.

Answer the following question concerning the given pie diagram.

• If 30 students’ subjects of interest are history, how many total students were surveyed?
• Which subject is liked the most?
• Which subject is disliked the most?

1. According to the given question, 8% of the total number of students is 30. i.e. (8/100) x Total = 30 Therefore, Total = 30 x (100/8) = 375 Hence 375 students were surveyed. 2. According to the given pie chart, science is liked the most. 3. According to the given pie chart, history is disliked the most.

Example 2: For a science camp, students from different states have enrolled. Construct a pie chart for the given table:

Step 1: The first step requires us to jot down the available data into tabular form as follows: West Bengal Assam Tamil Nadu Gujarat Karnataka 10 5 5 10 10 Step 2: The next task is to calculate the sum of all the given data. Here, the Sum of All Data = (10 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 10) = 40 Step 3: Now, the next task is to calculate the percentage of each sector. We need to divide each sector value by the sum or total and then multiply it by 100. West Bengal Assam Tamil Nadu Gujarat Karnataka (10/40) × 100 = 25% (5/40) × 100 = 12.5% (5/40) × 100 = 12.5% (10/40) × 100 = 25% (10/40) × 100 = 25% Step 4: Next step is to calculate the degrees corresponding to each slice. The values can be calculated as: West Bengal Assam Tamil Nadu Gujarat Karnataka (10/40) × 360 = 90 (5/40) × 360 = 45 (5/40) × 360 = 45 (10/40) × 360 = 90 (10/40) × 360 = 90 Step 5: Now, with a protractor’s help, we will measure each angle from a single point or central point and draw the circle’s sectors. The resultant pie chart will be:

Example 3: A pie chart is divided into four parts, and the values are given as x, 3x, 4x, and 4x. Find the value of x in degrees.

As it is known that a pie chart has 360°. Therefore, if all the angles are added, it will give 360°. x + 3x + 4x + 4x = 360° 12x = 360° x = 30°

What i s Population Pie chart?

The population pie chart is the pie chart that represent the population of any area and the population pie chart of the world is shown in the image added below,

Q1. Students selected for ISRO visit from various states are given in the table below. Represent them in a pie chart.

Q2. marks scored by kabir in an exam in various subject is shown in the table below show a pie chart representing the same..

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Pie charts are useful graphical tools for showing data distribution in an understandable way. These are circular diagrams that have been segmented into sectors, each of which represents a percentage or fraction of the entire dataset. Pie charts help viewers rapidly understand distribution patterns by effectively communicating the relative sizes of various categories or components within a dataset. They are frequently used in publications, reports, and presentations in a variety of sectors, including business, finance, statistics, and education.

Pie Chart- FAQs

What is called pie chart.

A pie chart is a circular graph divided into sectors, each representing a proportion of the whole.

What is pie chart class 8?

In class 8, a pie chart is taught as a way to represent data visually where each sector shows the relative size of each value.

What are the 7 types of pie charts?

Simple Pie Chart Exploded Pie Chart 3D Pie Chart Doughnut Chart Multi-level Pie Chart Perspective Pie Chart Variable Radius Pie Chart

What is the Formula for Pie Chart?

To calculate the percentage of the given data, the formula used: (Frequency ÷ Total Frequency) × 100 Converting data into degrees: (Given Data ÷ Total Data) × 100

What are Examples of Pie Chart?

There are many examples of pie chart as pie chart is often used for visual representation. Following are some of the real-life examples: Representation of marks obtained by students. The marketing and sales data is obtained by using a pie chart. The profit and loss endured by a business can be represented by a pie chart.

Where is the pie chart used?

Pie charts are used for various purposes and various uses of pie chart are, It is used to represent various types of data. It is used to show data of various demographics. It is used to represent various objects of sales, marketing, and others, etc.

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A complete guide to pie charts

Posted by: mike yi.

Despite often being maligned, the pie chart remains a very commonly-seen chart type. In this article, you will learn how to best use this frequently-misused chart type.

What is a pie chart?

A pie chart shows how a total amount is divided between levels of a categorical variable as a circle divided into radial slices. Each categorical value corresponds with a single slice of the circle, and the size of each slice (both in area and arc length) indicates what proportion of the whole each category level takes.

The pie chart above depicts the distribution of votes for a fictional election for a small city. We can see that Reyes, represented by the first blue slice, has just less than half of the votes. Chu (yellow) is in second, with about a third of the votes, while Williams (purple) is last, with about a fifth of the votes. The annotations in the upper right give us a more precise judgment of the proportions, but the pie chart tells the overarching story of where the votes fell.

When you should use a pie chart

Pie charts have a fairly narrow use-case that is encapsulated particularly well by its definition. In order to use a pie chart, you must have some kind of whole amount that is divided into a number of distinct parts. Your primary objective in a pie chart should be to compare each group’s contribution to the whole, as opposed to comparing groups to each other. If the above points are not satisfied, the pie chart is not appropriate, and a different plot type should be used instead.

The values that comprise a whole and the categories that divide the whole generally come in two major varieties. First of all, is when the ‘whole’ represents a total count. Examples of this include votes in an election divided by candidate, or number of transactions divided by user type (e.g. guest, new user, existing user).

A second type of ‘whole’ is when the total is a sum over an actual data variable. For example, we might be interested not in the number of transactions, but the monetary total from all transactions. Dividing this total by an attribute like user type, age bracket, or location might provide insights as to where the business is most successful.

Example of data structure

Data for a pie chart can be summarized in a table like the above, where the first column indicates a category, and the second the proportion, frequency, or amount of that category. Usually, the total does not need to be specified separately unless it is to be listed somewhere else on a generated figure. Alternatively, some tools can just work with the unaggregated data as in the below table, essentially performing the aggregation into the table above at time of pie chart creation.

Best practices for using a pie chart

Include annotations.

It is actually very difficult to discern exact proportions from pie charts, outside of small fractions like 1/2 (50%), 1/3 (33%), and 1/4 (25%). Furthermore, if the slice values are meant to depict amounts rather than proportions, pie charts typically lack the tick marks to allow for estimation of values directly from slice sizes. It is for these reasons that annotations are a standard inclusion for pie charts.

Consider the order of slices

A good order for slices can make it much easier for a reader to understand what the plot is saying. A typical ordering goes from the largest slice to the smallest slice, very useful when there are categories with very similar values. However, if the category levels have an inherent ordering, then plotting slices in that order is usually better.

As for choosing a start point, it’s a good idea to plot slices from a cardinally-oriented direction. Visualization tools will usually start from the right or from the top. While starting from the right has a mathematical basis regarding conventions on measuring angles, starting from the top feels more intuitive, since it matches how we read from top to bottom, and how we think about progression of time on a clock or watch face.

We do not sort by size here since the labels are meaningful.

Limit the number of pie slices

Pie charts with a large number of slices can be difficult to read. It can be difficult to see the smallest slices, and it can be difficult to choose enough colors to make all of the slices distinct. Recommendations vary, but if you have more than about five categories, you might want to think about using a different chart type. As another option, you might consider lumping small slices into a single ‘other’ slice, colored in a neutral gray.

Avoid distorting effects

Reading a pie chart accurately requires that the slices’ areas, arc lengths, and angles all point to an accurate representation of the data. While avoiding 3-d effects is a good idea for any plot, it is especially important for pie charts. Squashing or stretching the circle or adding unnecessary depth can easily distort how large each slice compares to the whole.

Another distortion can come from the ‘exploded’ pie chart, where slices are pulled out from the center for emphasis. This emphasis comes with a cost, where the gaps can make it more difficult to actually gauge the part-to-whole comparison.

Common misuses

Fitting a pie to incompatible data.

One of the most common mistakes with using a pie chart is to fit it to data that does not represent a parts-to-whole comparison. This confusion occurs most often when the values to be plotted are percentages or proportions, but don’t comprise a complete whole. The example below shows how frequently the people surveyed used each of four applications, but since many people used multiple apps, the proportions sum to much more than 100%.

Another tricky case is if the values used for each group are a summary statistic that is not a total. The chart below was built on the average transaction amount for multiple transaction types. However, since it ignores how frequently each transaction type was used, it distorts how much revenue is coming in from each type. While checks have the highest average, they might also be fairly rare in use. In both cases, a bar chart is an appropriate chart type to use.

Using pie charts to compare groups to one another

If you want to make comparisons between groups rather than from each group to the whole, then you are better off with a different chart type. Even when sorting slices by size, it can be difficult to tell how different two slices are, especially when they move away from the start / end point. In the below example, you might assume that the second slice is larger than the third due to order, but the corresponding bar chart actually shows the opposite. The main thing that you can really say from the pie chart is that both slices are approximately the same proportions from the whole.

Comparing values across multiple pie charts

There may be cases where you will want to compare multiple pies to one another: for example, comparing user demographic distribution across multiple years. However, this runs into a similar issue as the previous section, where you want to compare groups to one another. Even worse, it’s a comparison between pies, so you can’t rely on the order of slices as easily for the comparison. Expressing the data using a different plot, like  stacked bar chart , grouped bar chart, or  line chart , is often a better choice when this kind of group-to-group comparison is desired. Like with actual pies, pie charts are best taken one at a time.

Comparison of the pies may imply a shrinking of the older age groups by proportion, but the grouped bar chart demonstrates a growth in the younger groups.

Common pie chart options

Absolute frequency vs. relative frequency.

Pie charts can be labeled in terms of absolute values or by proportions. Labeling slices with absolute amounts and implying the proportions with the slice sizes is conventional, but consider the goals of your visualization carefully in order to decide on the best annotation style to use for your plot. In some cases, including both numbers in the annotations can be worth the additional text.

Doughnut plot

A doughnut plot (aka donut plot) is simply a pie chart with a central circle removed. For the most part, there  aren’t significant differences in readability  between a pie chart and donut chart, so the choice of a doughnut over a standard circle is mostly that of aesthetic. One small boon for the ring shape is that the central area can be used for additional information or to report statistics.

Related plots

The biggest competition for the pie chart comes from the  bar chart . Most of the time, you won’t want to use a pie chart – rather, a bar chart will get across the points more compactly and clearly. Many of the issues with pie charts are  solved through the use of a bar chart . However, bar charts do not immediately sell the part-to-whole comparison, which is pie chart’s major benefit.

Stacked bar chart

On the other hand, the  stacked bar chart  type can prove to be a strong rival to the pie chart in its ability to communicate a part-to-whole comparison. A single stacked bar can be thought of as a pie chart’s slices rolled out into a rectangular form. The rectangular form also makes it easier to compare categorical breakdowns across different groups. However, pie charts still have an advantage in  familiarity and aesthetics , so they’re still worth having in mind for the part-to-whole comparison use case.

Waffle chart

Another alternative to the pie chart is the waffle chart, also known as a square chart or square pie. A waffle chart comprises 100 icons, typically squares laid out in a 10 x 10 grid. Each icon represents 1% of the data, and the icons are colored based on the categorical distribution of the data. While there will need to be some rounding of category amounts to fit the plot structure – never split icons in this plot – it can be a way of making the relative proportions for each category easier to read.

Visualization tools

Most visualization tools will be able to create pie charts, despite their limited use case. Donut charts are somewhat less common, but there aren’t a whole lot of cases where they’re truly needed over pie charts. Despite the fact that pie charts have fallen out of favor for most visualization needs, it is important to recognize that they are a common chart that people generally know how to read. Pie charts are still great at their ideal job: immediately selling a part-to-whole comparison objective.

The pie chart is one of many different chart types that can be used for visualizing data. Learn more from our articles on  essential chart types ,  how to choose a type of data visualization , or by browsing the full collection of  articles in the charts category .