Circular Barplot


A circular barplot is pretty much the same as a barplot, but using polar coordinates instead of cartesian coordinates. They are a bit tricky to build with Python and less accurate than usual barplot, but they come with an eye-catching effect that sometimes make them worth it.

Matplotlib logoCircular barplot with Matplotlib

Matplotlib allows to build circular barplots thanks to the polar Layout option of the subplot() function. Examples below should guide you from the most simple version to some more customization.

It starts by explaining how the polar coordinates of matplotlib works, show how to use it to draw bars and finally goes into the trickiness of adding labels.

Circular barplot with labels

Circular barplot with labels

Matplotlib logoGrouped Circular barplot

This section extends the previous one by adding a grouping level to the circular barplot. It allows to check for the values of several items split by groups, each item being sorted by value inside its group. It requires quite a bit of matplotlib code but the step-by-step tutorial highlighted below should help go through it.

Final grouped circular barplot with labels, grid

Final grouped circular barplot with labels, grid

Matplotlib logoBest python circular barplot examples

The web is full of astonishing charts made by awesome bloggers, (often using R). The Python graph gallery tries to display (or translate from R) some of the best creations and explain how their source code works. If you want to display your work here, please drop me a word or even better, submit a Pull Request!

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👋 This document is a work by Yan Holtz. You can contribute on github, send me a feedback on twitter or subscribe to the newsletter to know when new examples are published! 🔥