BEIJING, Sept. 14 -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, continued stable expansion in August, official data said Thursday.

The power use climbed 3.9 percent from a year ago to 886.1 billion kilowatt-hours last month, driven by robust industrial power demand, according to the National Energy Administration.

Power consumed by primary industries went up 8.6 percent year on year, and power used by secondary and tertiary sectors gained 7.6 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively. However, residential power use registered a 9.9 percent decline.

In the first eight months combined, the country's electricity consumption rose 5 percent from a year earlier to 6.08 trillion kilowatt-hours.