BEIJING, June 14 -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, recorded steady growth last month, boosted by the overall recovery of the country's economy, official data showed Wednesday.

Total power use in China rose 7.4 percent year on year in May to 722.2 billion kilowatt-hours, said the National Energy Administration.

Power consumed by the primary industries soared by 16.9 percent year on year, while that used by the secondary and tertiary sectors increased by 4.1 percent and 20.9 percent, respectively.

Residential power use saw a year-on-year increase of 8.2 percent to 87.6 billion kilowatt-hours in May, the administration said.

In the first five months of the year, China's power consumption topped 3.53 trillion kilowatt-hours, up 5.2 percent from a year ago.