BEIJING — China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 4.4 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2019, the National Energy Administration (NEA) announced on Nov 18.

Total power use hit 5.92 trillion kWh during the period, NEA data showed.

Specifically, power use by the first and secondary industries rose 5.2 percent and 3 percent, respectively, and that by the tertiary industry jumped 9.3 percent from the same period a year ago.

Residential power consumption went up 5.9 percent year-on-year to 877.7 billion kWh during the period, said the NEA.

In October alone, the country's power use grew 5 percent year-on-year to 579 billion kWh.