In Power BI, donut charts are commonly used in Power BI to display categorical data and show the relationship between parts and the whole.

However, simply displaying the categories' values may not always convey the complete story.

To provide a clearer picture, you can show percentages in your Power BI donut charts.

In this blog post, we'll explore how to add percentages to your donut charts and why it's a valuable practice for effective data communication.

Understanding Donut Charts in Power BI

Donut charts are similar to pie charts, but with a hole in the center, which can be visually appealing and provide space for additional information. In Power BI, you can create donut charts by selecting the appropriate visualization type and specifying the category and value fields you want to represent.

Why Show Percentages in Donut Charts?

While donut charts provide a quick way to compare the proportions of different categories, adding percentages to your chart offers several benefits:

1. Improved Readability: Percentages make it easier for viewers to understand the relative sizes of each category, enhancing the chart's readability.

2. Enhanced Context: Percentages provide context by showing the contribution of each category to the whole, helping viewers understand the significance of each part.

3. Better Decision-Making: When making data-driven decisions, having percentages readily available allows viewers to make more informed choices.

4. Effective Communication: Showing percentages alongside values helps in effectively communicating data to your audience, making the story behind the data more compelling.

Adding Percentages to Donut Charts in Power BI

To display percentages in your Power BI donut charts, follow these steps:

Step 1: Create a Donut Chart

Start by creating a donut chart in Power BI with your desired data. Drag and drop the category field into the "Legend" area and the value field into the "Values" area of the chart visualization.

Step 2: Add Data Labels

Next, add data labels to your donut chart:

1. Select the donut chart on your report canvas.
2. In the "Visualizations" pane, go to the "Format" section.
3. Expand the "Data labels" option.
4. Toggle on the "Data label" switch.

This action will display the values of each category within the donut chart.

Step 3: Display Percentages

Now, you'll configure the chart to display percentages alongside the values:

• In the "Data labels" option, turn on the "Percentage" switch.

Your donut chart will now show both the values and the corresponding percentages for each category.

Step 4: Customize Formatting (Optional)

You can further customize the formatting of your chart labels, such as adjusting font size, color, position, and number formatting, to make them visually appealing and consistent with your report's style.

Conclusion

Power BI donut charts are a valuable tool for visualizing categorical data and comparing proportions.

However, to make your data visualizations more informative and compelling, it's often beneficial to show percentages alongside the values in your donut charts.

This practice enhances readability, provides context, and aids in better decision-making by offering a clear understanding of the relationship between categories and the whole.

By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can easily add percentages to your Power BI donut charts and create more impactful data visualizations that effectively communicate your data story to your audience.