Description

A bar chart is a chart that each category is represented by a horizontal rectangle, with the length of the rectangle being proportional to the values being plotted. The horizontal axis shows data value, and the vertical axis displays the categories being compared. It’s a vertical version of the column chart.

When to Use

The bar chart is widely used to show comparison among categories and sometimes to visualize time-based data. It’s effective for showing the difference between values. It’s an alternative to the column chart when category name is long.

Dos

• Always start at zero baseline
• Use consistent colors throughout the chart, using accent colors to highlight meaningful data points
• The bar should be ordered from most recent when plotting time-based data
• Space between bars should be roughly 1/2 of the bar width

Don'ts

• Don’t use shadow effects
• Don’t use 3D effects
• Avoid using bar chart if most the values are negative. It better to use column chart unless the labels do not fit underneath the bars

Tools available

Other chart types of comparison