Stacked Bar Chart — Matplotlib

A stacked bar chart that displays multiple data series stacked on top of each other within each category, showing both individual component values and their cumulative totals. This visualization excels at revealing part-to-whole relationships while maintaining the ability to compare totals across categories. Stacked bar charts are particularly effective for composition analysis, where understanding how different components contribute to a whole is as important as comparing totals.

Stacked Bar Chart rendered with Matplotlib

Python source (Matplotlib)

""" anyplot.ai
bar-stacked: Stacked Bar Chart
Library: matplotlib 3.10.9 | Python 3.13.13
Quality: 90/100 | Updated: 2026-05-09
"""

import os

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np


# Theme tokens
THEME = os.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG = "#FAF8F1" if THEME == "light" else "#1A1A17"
ELEVATED_BG = "#FFFDF6" if THEME == "light" else "#242420"
INK = "#1A1A17" if THEME == "light" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_SOFT = "#4A4A44" if THEME == "light" else "#B8B7B0"

# Okabe-Ito palette (positions 1-4)
IMPRINT = ["#009E73", "#C475FD", "#4467A3", "#BD8233"]

# Data: Quarterly revenue by product category (in millions USD)
categories = ["Q1", "Q2", "Q3", "Q4"]
products = ["Software", "Hardware", "Services", "Support"]

software = np.array([45, 52, 48, 68])
hardware = np.array([32, 28, 35, 42])
services = np.array([28, 31, 38, 35])
support = np.array([15, 18, 20, 22])

# Plot
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(16, 9), facecolor=PAGE_BG)
ax.set_facecolor(PAGE_BG)

x = np.arange(len(categories))
bar_width = 0.6

# Create stacked bars
bottom = np.zeros(len(categories))
for i, (product, values) in enumerate(zip(products, [software, hardware, services, support], strict=True)):
    ax.bar(x, values, bar_width, label=product, bottom=bottom, color=IMPRINT[i], edgecolor=PAGE_BG, linewidth=1.5)
    bottom += values

# Add total labels above each stacked bar
totals = software + hardware + services + support
for i, total in enumerate(totals):
    ax.text(i, total + 3, f"${total}M", ha="center", va="bottom", fontsize=18, fontweight="bold", color=INK)

# Style
ax.set_xlabel("Quarter", fontsize=20, color=INK)
ax.set_ylabel("Revenue (Millions USD)", fontsize=20, color=INK)
ax.set_title("bar-stacked · matplotlib · anyplot.ai", fontsize=24, fontweight="medium", color=INK)
ax.set_xticks(x)
ax.set_xticklabels(categories)
ax.tick_params(axis="both", labelsize=16, colors=INK_SOFT, labelcolor=INK_SOFT)

# Legend
leg = ax.legend(fontsize=16, loc="upper left", bbox_to_anchor=(1.02, 1))
if leg:
    leg.get_frame().set_facecolor(ELEVATED_BG)
    leg.get_frame().set_edgecolor(INK_SOFT)
    plt.setp(leg.get_texts(), color=INK_SOFT)

# Grid (subtle, y-axis only)
ax.yaxis.grid(True, alpha=0.15, linewidth=0.8, color=INK)
ax.set_axisbelow(True)

# Spines
ax.spines["top"].set_visible(False)
ax.spines["right"].set_visible(False)
for s in ("left", "bottom"):
    ax.spines[s].set_color(INK_SOFT)

# Y-axis limits with headroom for labels
ax.set_ylim(0, max(totals) + 20)

plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig(f"plot-{THEME}.png", dpi=300, bbox_inches="tight", facecolor=PAGE_BG)

Part of Stacked Bar Chart on anyplot.ai.

Other implementations