Summary

The sunburst chart is a built-in chart type in Excel 2016+. A sunburst chart is used to display hierarchical data in a circular format where each level of the hierarchy is represented as a ring. Top level categories make up the inner ring, and sub-categories are plotted as outer rings. Segments in each ring are sized proportionally using a value series. Like a treemap chart, the sunburst chart can be used to compare relative sizes.

Pros

  • Quick visualization of hierarchical data
  • At-a-glance breakdown of data in categories

Cons

  • Data must be sorted by category
  • Limited options for controlling format and presentation