Grouped bar chart

Multi-series grouped vertical bar chart for grouped categorical comparison across a second dimension.

bar-grouped clusters bars from several series under each category, exposing a second dimension of comparison. Honours sort, sortMode, valueLabels, and valueLabelPosition.

When to use

• Comparing 2–3 series across categories where the second dimension matters (revenue by product by quarter, capacity by source by region)
• When individual series values matter more than their sum
• A small, fixed list of groups — the structure stays legible

When NOT to use

• More than 3–4 series per group — the clusters become unreadable
• When the cumulative total per group is the story (use bar-stacked)
• When series share the same units and you want a direct comparison without a grouping dimension (use bar-multi)

Example

chart bar-grouped {
  title = "Asia Pacific holds more renewable capacity than all other regions combined"
  description = "Installed capacity in gigawatts (GW)"
  source = "IRENA"
  sourceUrl = "https://www.irena.org"
  valueLabels = true

  data {
    _series = "Solar","Wind","Hydro"
    "Asia Pacific"  = 680,540,840
    "Europe"        = 250,300,200
    "North America" = 200,180,190
    "Latin America" = 30,50,200
    "Africa"        = 15,10,40
  }
}

Common pitfalls

• Too many bars per group overwhelms the reader — keep series to three or fewer
• Inconsistent colour encoding across groups or across charts in a dashboard
• Sorting by the wrong dimension when both groups and series carry meaning

Related types

• bar-multi — side-by-side series without a grouping dimension
• bar-stacked — when the total per group matters
• column-stacked — vertical composition over discrete columns

See also

• Choosing the right chart
• Design principles