BEIJING — China’s courier sector posted faster growth in July as online consumption continued to expand, official data showed.

The sector’s combined revenue rose 23 percent year-on-year to reach 48.2 billion yuan (about $7 billion) in July, compared with a 21.1-percent increase in June, according to the State Post Bureau.

Around 4.1 billion parcels were handled last month, up 27.3 percent year-on-year, compared with the 24.2-percent growth in June.

In the first seven months of the year, the sector’s total revenue stood at 322.7 billion yuan, up 25.4 percent year-on-year.

The courier industry has seen rapid development partly due to booming online consumption.

In the January-July period, online retail sales surged 29.3 percent year-on-year to 4.8 trillion yuan, outpacing the 9.3-percent expansion in the country’s overall retail sales of 21.1 trillion yuan.