BEIJING — China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, recorded a slight decline last month, official data showed on May 16.

Total power use dropped by 1.3 percent, year-on-year, in April to 636.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), said the National Energy Administration.

Power consumed by the primary industry increased by 5.5 percent year-on-year, while that used by the secondary and tertiary industries shrank by 1.4 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.

Residents' power consumption saw a year-on-year increase of 5.5 percent to 83.7 billion kWh in April, the administration said.

In the first four months of the year, China's power consumption topped 2.68 trillion kWh, up 3.4 percent from a year ago. Residents' power use rose 10.5 percent year-on-year in the period.