Stacked column chart

Stacked vertical column chart for composition over discrete columns; supports percent stacking.

column-stacked is the vertical sibling of bar-stacked — each column breaks down into segments. It's the right choice when the x-axis represents a small number of ordered steps (quarters, fiscal years, study cohorts). Honours stackMode and stackPercent.

When to use

• Composition over a small number of discrete columns (5–10 quarters, years, or stages)
• When both the total and the breakdown matter for each column
• 100 % stacked view (stackPercent = true) when readers should focus on relative share

When NOT to use

• More than ~10 time points — switch to area-stacked
• Data with negative values — stacking breaks down
• When precise segment-to-segment comparison is needed across columns

Example

chart column-stacked {
  title = "Software revenue grew steadily while hardware spiked in Q4"
  description = "Quarterly revenue in millions, 2024"
  source = "Annual report"

  data {
    _series = "Hardware","Software","Services"
    "Q1" = 120,85,45
    "Q2" = 135,92,48
    "Q3" = 128,98,52
    "Q4" = 155,105,58
  }
}

Common pitfalls

• Stacking too many series — the top layers float and lose their baseline
• Switching to stackPercent = true without telling the reader hides the change in absolute total
• Inconsistent segment ordering between columns destroys the visual flow

Related types

• bar-stacked — horizontal equivalent for long category labels
• area-stacked — same idea with many time points
• bar-multi — when you want side-by-side comparison instead of stacking

See also

• Choosing the right chart
• Design principles