What Is a Pie Chart in Matplotlib?

A pie chart is a circular chart divided into slices, where each slice represents a proportion or percentage of the total data.
Pie charts are useful when you want to show how parts contribute to a whole.

They are commonly used in business reports, surveys, and statistics.

Basic Pie Chart Example

Python 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt values = [40, 30, 20, 10] plt.pie(values) plt.show() # Output: # Circular pie chart divided into four slices

Displaying Percentages

Python 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt values = [40, 30, 20, 10] labels = ["A", "B", "C", "D"] plt.pie(values, labels=labels, autopct="%1.1f%%") plt.show() # Output: # Pie chart with percentage values

  • %1.1f%% shows one decimal percentage.

Changing Colors

Python 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt values = [40, 30, 20, 10] labels = ["A", "B", "C", "D"]  colors = ["red", "blue", "green", "orange"] plt.pie(values, labels=labels, colors=colors) plt.show() # Output: # Pie chart with custom colors

Explode Effect (Highlight Slice)

Python 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt values = [40, 30, 20, 10] labels = ["A", "B", "C", "D"] explode = [0.1, 0, 0, 0] plt.pie(values, labels=labels, explode=explode) plt.show() # Output: # First slice slightly separated from the pie

This emphasizes a particular category.

Adding Title

Python 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt values = [40, 30, 20, 10] labels = ["A", "B", "C", "D"] plt.pie(values, labels=labels) plt.title("Market Share") plt.show() # Output: # Pie chart with title

Pie Chart with Shadow

Python 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt values = [40, 30, 20, 10] labels = ["A", "B", "C", "D"] plt.pie(values, labels=labels, shadow=True) plt.show() # Output: # Pie chart with shadow effect

Combining Customizations

Python 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt values = [40, 30, 20, 10] labels = ["A", "B", "C", "D"] plt.pie(values, labels=labels, colors=colors, autopct="%1.1f%%", explode=explode, shadow=True) plt.title("Market Share") plt.show() # Output: # Fully styled pie chart