Forum Discussion
How to create a Stacked Column Chart with a growth indicator (% bracket between bars)?
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to build a stacked column chart in Power BI that compares two periods, with a growth indicator shown as a bracket and percentage label connecting the tops of the two bars (see attached example).
The chart has these elements:
- Two stacked columns, each split into segments (e.g. 37.0 + 110 = 185.0, and 39.1 + 113 = 189.5)
- Data labels inside each segment
- Total value displayed above each column
- A bracket with a percentage (x.x%) spanning the two columns to show the period-over-period growth
My questions:
- Is it possible to create this growth-indicator bracket using the native Power BI stacked column chart, for example with analytics lines, error bars, or a measure-driven label?
- If native isn't possible, which custom visual is recommended for this style? I've seen mentions of Zebra BI and Inforiver — do these support the bracket + variance label out of the box.
3 Replies
Hi ENF27,
This bracket-style growth indicator isn’t supported in native Power BI visual.Custom visuals also have some limitations:
- Zebra BI - Supports variance % and comparisons, but stacked + advanced features are part of paid tiers, and a true bracket-style connector isn’t directly available
- Inforiver Charts - Stacked configuration is not possible.
For this exact design, Deneb is the best option and it’s free. It allows you to fully customize the visual using Vega-Lite, including drawing the bracket and placing a dynamic % label between the columns.
💡 Helpful? Give a Kudos 👍 — keep the community growing
✅ Solved your issue? Mark as Solution ✔️ — help others find it faster
Best regards,
Rupasree Achari | BI & Fabric Analytics EngineerHello ENF27,
Short answer no, you can't do this with a plain stacked column chart. Data labels and reference lines are about as far as the native visual goes; there's nothing built in that lets you draw a bracket connecting two bars with a % sitting in the middle.
A few ways to get around it:
Fake it with shapes/text boxes layered over the chart. Cheap to set up but it's static, resize the visual or change the data and the bracket no longer lines up.
Build it properly in Deneb https://deneb-viz.github.io/ , it's Vega-Lite under the hood so you get full control over annotations, free.
Or just use Zebra BI https://zebrabi.com/ or Inforiver https://inforiver.com , both handle variance/comparison visuals like this out of the box, no custom coding needed.
For reference: Create and use column charts in Power BI
