Pareto chart

A Pareto chart shows dimensions represented by bars or columns in descending order and a line representing the cumulative percentage of these dimensions.

In a Pareto bar chart, the size of the bars corresponds to the value of the measure (for example, frequency, cost, or time) that is displayed on the secondary horizontal axis. The primary horizontal axis is always 100% and represents the percentage shown by the line.

In a Pareto column chart, the size of the column corresponds to the value of the measure (for example, frequency, cost, or time) that is displayed on the primary vertical axis. The secondary vertical axis is always 100% and represents the percentage shown by the line.

A Pareto chart provides facts needed for prioritization by showing the relative importance of various problems or their causes. The highest bars (columns) are the most important. The chart is based on the Pareto principle, which states that out of several factors that affect a situation, a few factors impact the situation the most. The Pareto principle describes a phenomenon in which 80 percent of the result can be explained by 20 percent of the causes.

When to use

The Pareto chart can be used for the following business needs:

• Determine which products contribute to sales the most.
• Determine what business problems create most of the complaints or losses.
• Analyze the causes of late shipment arrival (traffic, weather, address errors, transportation failures, and so on): number of occasions and how each reason for delay contributes to the total.

Bars or columns – Select the right chart type for your data

A bar chart displays data as horizontal bars, while a column chart displays data as vertical bars. However, the data is processed the same way.

The following table shows the main differences between the two chart types.

Use column charts to	Use bar charts to
Display dimensions related to time (months, quarters, year, and so on). Display dimensions that represent age or ranges. Show trends. Display datasets with negative values.	Display dimensions that are not related to time (for example, products, projects, or countries). Display data that has long labels. Rank data. Show a large difference between the measure values.

Data requirements

To build this chart, define the data fields as follows:

• Dimension – One dimension
• Measure – One measure
• Tooltip – (Optional) One or more measures
• Trellis – (Optional) One dimension

Use case

View the following use cases for the Pareto chart, based on the chart orientation.

Pareto bar charts

The following chart shows the profit per product line. The Pareto chart indicates that approximately 80% of the gross sales (about 41.23M) are generated by three managers.

Pareto column charts

The following chart shows the gross sales per product line. The Pareto chart indicates that about 80% of the gross sales (about 18.5M) are generated by the product lines represented by the first four columns.

References

For details on how to customize your visualization, see Visualization settings.

For a whole list of visualizations, see the following topics:

• Visualizations by function (find a visualization to suit your business case)
• Visualizations by type (find a visualization based on how it is organized on the interface)