BEIJING, Sept. 15 -- China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption strength, registered faster growth in August after a slowdown lasting three consecutive months, official data showed Friday.

Retail sales went up 4.6 percent year on year to 3.79 trillion yuan (about 527.96 billion U.S. dollars) last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The growth rate was higher than the 2.5-percent expansion recorded in July.

The recovery of the consumer market picked up pace with rapid growth in service consumption, the NBS said in a statement.

Service consumption, which surged 19.4 percent in the first eight months of 2023, emerged as a major growth driver, and online sales registered vibrant year-on-year growth of 12.1 percent in the same period. In August, the catering sector maintained its momentum with combined revenue up 12.4 percent.

In the January-August period, retail sales of consumer goods rose 7 percent from a year earlier, the NBS data revealed.