Bars that extend left or right of zero. Shows positive and negative deltas.
A free, animated diverging bar chart you can read here or embed on any website, from Scrollchart.
Diverging Bar Chart
A diverging bar chart plants a vertical zero line at center and grows bars to the right for positive values and to the left for negative ones. The categories are listed on the Y-axis so long labels read cleanly. The visual result is immediate: longer bars on one side mean stronger positive or negative departure from zero.
This format suits any dataset where direction matters as much as magnitude. Common uses include year-over-year revenue change by product line (gains right, declines left), net favorability scores in polling (approve right, disapprove left), and trade balances by country. The zero line is a natural reference that the reader understands without being told.
The center vertical line is zero. Bars extending right are positive; bars extending left are negative. Bar length encodes the absolute size of the deviation. Category labels on the Y-axis identify what each bar represents. Value labels at the bar tips give the exact number.
A frequent misreading is to compare the total visual weight on each side as if it were a competition. Each bar is independent: a very long bar on the left does not cancel or balance a long bar on the right. Compare individual categories to zero, not categories to each other across the center line.
Editorial pages where a quick visual replaces a wall of text
Content-marketing posts that need a clean, branded illustration
Source & accuracy
This diverging bar chart is an editorial illustration built to represent the concept accurately. Where it shows figures, they are typical or representative values chosen to make the relationship clear, not a single underlying dataset. The diagram and its explainer are reviewed and maintained centrally, and updated over time as understanding improves.
Centering at zero to show deltas
A diverging bar chart uses a center axis (zero or a neutral midpoint) and extends bars in both directions. One direction (typically left or down) represents negative change, loss, or decline; the other represents gain, improvement, or positive change. This mirrors how our brains naturally interpret left as worse and right as better.
The format is especially clear for before-and-after scenarios: revenue down 15% in Q1, up 22% in Q2. A single glance shows direction and magnitude without decoding a legend.
Avoiding confusion with stacked bar charts
Diverging bars differ from stacked or grouped bars because the primary comparison axis is the delta itself, not the sum of components. Use this when negative values matter as much as positive ones, and you want that contrast to dominate the visual story.
Embed this diagram
Add this animated diverging bar chart to your own site. Copy one line of HTML, or use the embed builder for theme and sizing options.
Reference
What this is
A free, embeddable, animated diverging bar chart for any website.
Who uses it
Data journalists, Researchers & academics, Content marketers, News organizations.
How to embed
Copy one line of HTML. No signup. No watermark. Works in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Substack, plain HTML.
File size
iframe embed, ~80 KB gzipped (loads on demand, does not block your page paint).
License
Free forever. Editorial explainer text included; updated centrally over time.
Copy the universal HTML snippet, the WordPress shortcode, or an iframe fallback -
see the WordPress plugin page for details. Any format keeps
the same Core Web Vitals profile and the same explainer text.
By embedding, you acknowledge the diagram and explainer text are served from scrollchart.com and may be updated from time to time to reflect new research or to link to relevant sources within the explainer.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get a free animated "Diverging Bar Chart" for my website?
Scrollchart provides "Diverging Bar Chart" as a free, embeddable animated diagram you can add to any website with one line of HTML. No signup is required and there is no watermark. The diagram and its explainer text are served from scrollchart.com, so the embed stays current without any maintenance on your end.
How do I embed a diverging bar chart in a blog post or article?
Paste the one-line HTML snippet from the Scrollchart diagram page into your post editor. It works in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, and plain HTML with no plugin required. The animated diagram and its explainer text load from scrollchart.com and render directly in your page DOM.