Multi-series bar chart

Multi-series vertical bar chart for side-by-side comparison of a small group of series.

bar-multi places several series next to each other within each category, so readers can compare them at a glance. Honours sort, sortMode, valueLabels, and valueLabelPosition.

When to use

Comparing 2–3 series across the same categories (e.g. medals by colour, revenue by product line)
When individual series values matter more than their totals
A small, fixed set of categories where the comparison is the story

When NOT to use

More than 3–4 series per group — the clusters become unreadable
When the total across series is the headline number — use bar-stacked or column-stacked
When the second dimension is itself a grouping (use bar-grouped)

Example

bpc

chart bar-multi {
  title = "USA tops Paris 2024 with 126 medals across all categories"
  description = "2024 Paris Summer Games — top six nations"
  source = "Olympics.com"
  sourceUrl = "https://olympics.com"
  colors = "#eeca3b, #c0c0c0, #cd7f32"
  legendPosition = "top"
  valueLabels = true
  sort = descending

  data {
    _series = "Gold","Silver","Bronze"
    "USA" = 40,44,42
    "China" = 38,32,18
    "Japan" = 27,14,17
    "Great Britain" = 22,21,22
    "Australia" = 17,7,22
    "France" = 16,20,23
  }
}

Common pitfalls

Too many bars per group overwhelms the reader; cap at 3–4 series
Inconsistent colour encoding across charts in the same dashboard
Sorting by the wrong series — make sure the sort matches the comparison you want readers to make

bar-grouped — when the categories themselves cluster into a higher group
bar-stacked — when the total across series is the headline
column-stacked — composition over a small number of discrete columns

Multi-series bar chart ​

When to use ​

When NOT to use ​

Example ​

Common pitfalls ​

Related types ​

See also ​

Multi-series bar chart

When to use

When NOT to use

Example

Common pitfalls

Related types

See also