Pie Charts -

Pie Charts

Data Interpretation or DI is one of the dominating sections in any MBA entrance exam. This section tests a candidate’s ability to analyze and interpret the given data and answer questions. A typical form of presenting data in this section is through Pie Charts. The data presented in the form of slices of a pie and illustrates proportionate value. A few examples can be – Market share of multiple companies in the same industry, proportion of ingredients used in a dessert, sales of a company in different years etc.

Exams which use contain this topic:

CAT – Even though CAT has significantly reduced the number of caselets based on the pie chart, it has often asked such type of questions previously. Therefore, it is not an option to take this topic lightly as each set carries 4 questions.

Year	No of Questions		Good attempt	Level of Difficulty
2019	Slot 1	0	0	–
2019	Slot 2	0	0	–
2018	Slot 1	4	4	Easy
2018	Slot 2	0	0	–

NMAT – The pie chart questions in NMAT are usually very easy and are a must attempt. Losing out on easy question can cost you a lot.

Year	No of Questions	Good attempt	Level of Difficulty
2020	0	0	–
2019	4	4	Easy

XAT – Pie chart questions in XAT are not data set based but are individual and may range from 1-2 questions with easy to moderate level of difficulty

Year	No of Questions	Good attempt	Level of Difficulty
2020	0	0	–
2019	1	1	Moderate

List of concepts

A Proper understanding of concepts of pie chart questions can sail you through all the MBA entrance exams. They are easy to score and less time consuming than other Data Interpretation questions.

Listed below are a few concepts that may help you gain insight on the type of questions asked:

Calculating absolute value from degree or percentage – Application of percentage-based questions which are quite simple to calculate. It could be possible that absolute value is given, and students have to calculate the degree or percentage.

Calculating degree from given percentage- Again a simple concept of converting 100% to 360 degrees.

Percentage increase or decrease – Data will be given for 2 different time period and the candidate needs to calculate the percentage change.

Questions with multiple pie charts- Candidates will have to analyse data given in multiple pie charts and try to relate the data.

Questions with pie chart and other graphs – CAT, XAT, SNAP, tend to present data with a pie chart and some other bar graph, line graph, table etc.

Multi-layered Pie chart – The level of difficulty with this concept may be high as the data is complicated and detailed.

Previous Year Pie Chart Questions for CAT and XAT

CAT 2018: The multi-layered pie-chart below shows the sales of LED television sets for a big retail electronics outlet during 2016 and 2017. The outer layer shows the monthly sales during this period, with each label showing the month followed by sales figure of that month. For some months, the sales figures are not given in the chart. The middle-layer shows quarter-wise aggregate sales figures (in some cases, aggregate quarter-wise sales numbers are not given next to the quarter). The innermost layer shows annual sales. It is known that the sales figures during the three months of the second quarter (April, May, June) of 2016 form an arithmetic progression, as do the three-monthly sales figures in the fourth quarter (October, November, December) of that year.

1. What is the percentage increase in sales in December 2017 as compared to the sales in December 2016?

a.) 38.46

b.) 22.22

c.) 50.00

d.) 28.57

2. In which quarter of 2017 was the percentage increase in sales from the same quarter of 2016 the highest?

a.) Q4

b.) Q1

c.) Q2

d.) Q3

3. During which quarter was the percentage decrease in sales from the previous quarter’s sales the highest?

a.) Q2 of 2016

b.) Q2 of 2017

c.) Q4 of 2017

d.) Q1 of 2017

4. During which month was the percentage increase in sales from the previous month’s sales the highest?

a.) October of 2017

b.) October of 2016

c.) March of 2016

d.) March of 2017

Show Answer

The information given in pie –chart can be represented in table form as following :

	Month/sales figure in	2016	2017
Q1	January	80	120
	February	60	100
	March	100	160
Q2	April	40	60
	May		75
	June		65
Q3	July	75	60
	August	120
	September	55	70
Q4	October	100	150
	November		170
	December

Now as given Sales figure in 2017 Q4 = 500

So sales figure in December 2017 = 500 – 150 – 170 = 180

Total sales in 2017 Q3 = 220

So sales in August 2017 = 220 – 60 – 70 = 90

Similarly sales in missing month of 2016 can be obtained as sales in the three months of 2016 Q4 & Q2 are in Arithmetic Progression. Thus following table can be obtained –

	Month/year	2016		2017
Q1	January	80	240	120	380
	February	60		100
	March	100		160
	April	40	150	60	200
Q2	May	50		75
Q2	June	60		65
Q3	July	75	250	60	220
	August	120		90
	September	55		70
Q4	October	100	300	150	500
	November	120		170
	December	140		180

Question 1) required percentage increase = (180 – 140)/140×100 =40/140×100=28.57%

Correct option d) 28.57 %

Question 2) it can be seen that the required percentage increase in sales is highest for Q4 and this is = ((500-300))/300×100=66.66%

Correct option a) Q4

Question 3) From the table obtained , we can see there is decrease only in Q2 of both year

Decrease in Q2- 2016 = (240-150)/240×100=37.5%

Decrease in Q2- 2017 = (380-200)/380×100=47.37%

Correct option b) Q2 of 2017

Question 4) As given options are only for may and October and we can see that sales in October 2017 is more than double ( from 70 in November to 150 in October ) so it is highest than other given month .

Correct option a) October 2017

XAT 2019: The break-up of the students in a university by subject major is given in the polar pie-chart. The bar chart shows the number of students who major in physics by geographic location.

1. How many students major in chemistry?

A 200

B 175

C 170

D 190

Show Answer

How to Prepare

Preparing any topic from the scratch requires patience, hard work, and above all commitment. To prepare for Pie charts, here are some Level-wise preparatory guidelines to follow:

Level – 1

Learn Speed calculation: For an effective and quick calculation, be thorough with tables till 20, memorize squares till 30, and cubes till 15.
Fraction – Percentage relation: For quick percentage calculation, memorize the fraction-percentage table. For example, 1/2 is 50%, 1/3 is 33.33%, and so on. It will help analyse percentage change, absolute value calculation etc.
Learn percentage change formula.
Practice beginner level questions with only one pie chart and no other graphs.

Level – 2

Move on to more complex problems, attempt beginner and intermediate level mock on concepts of Pie charts.
Solve previous year CAT questions on Pie chart and time yourself. Do not get stuck on one question and try to solve easy questions first.
Keep attempting mocks to check your performance.
Topic-wise mocks, provided by MBAP, can be utilized to enhance your performance.

Level – 3

For advanced level preparation, start practising questions from Arun Sharma.
Questions in Arun Sharma are categorized into Level of Difficulty (LOD), based upon your preparation level, start attempting 3 or 4 questions daily.

Pie Charts

List of concepts

Details on This Page

Previous Year Pie Chart Questions for CAT and XAT

How to Prepare

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