BEIJING, Sept. 20 -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, registered steady expansion in August, official data showed Friday.

Power use climbed 8.9 percent year on year to 964.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) last month, according to data from the National Energy Administration.

Specifically, power consumed by primary and secondary industries went up 4.6 percent and 4 percent year on year, respectively. Power used by the tertiary sector increased by 11.2 percent.

China's residential power use last month surged 23.7 percent from the same period of 2023, hitting 191.8 billion kWh.

In the first eight months of 2024, the country's power consumption climbed 7.9 percent to surpass 6.56 trillion kWh, the data revealed.